


A Memory of Fear

by Kawaii_Chibi_InuDemon



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Attempted Murder, F/M, Memory Loss, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:02:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27392404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kawaii_Chibi_InuDemon/pseuds/Kawaii_Chibi_InuDemon
Summary: "I think that this is your name," Danny said as he pointed to the image, the other two nodding in approval as Sam moved to look at the tattoo on the screen, her small finger reaching out to touch it."Sam?" she queried as she tried the name out again. "Sam. It sounds familiar.""I think it fits you," Danny said with a soft smile. The raven haired teen smiled back at him.Sam didn't know Danny, not until one faithful day she ran from her home in Oklahoma to a small town with a family of Ghost Hunters....But without a memory to speak of, she relies on her new friends to help her remember where she came from.... and why she ran! With them by her side she finds that there is so much about her that is connected to the small town and the teens who fight ghosts, one that is part ghost.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

In a modest town in Oklahoma, a petite raven haired teen stood before her once again drunk mother, the container in her mother's firm grip mostly drained as she tottered on a chair in the dining room. The older red headed female was glaring down at her at the moment, her teal eyes flashing in anger and yet so glazed over from the alcohol that the older woman didn't seem to be able to focus on one or the other.

"You are so w-wort- so fucking worthless!" her mother screamed angrily as she shook the bottle at her seventeen year old daughter. The teen before her just stood there, her amethyst eyes taking in the sight that she had become used to in the last several years. In truth, her mother had become worse over the last ten years with her drinking and smoking, the house a wreck from the lack of care. The adult looking at her had also seen better days.

There had been a time that her mother had been an elitist, her clothing of the highest fashion, her hair trimmed in a neat bob and her age questionable. She was still beautiful in her own right, but now her clothing was sweats, large shirts and her hair had been chopped off to look like a pixie on drugs, while she now looked past her forty years of age. "S-Samantha-a, you make me want to just strangle you every time I se-ee you," she slurred out before taking another swig. "You are the spitting image of Tyson, the bastard," she spat before throwing the bottle on the ground, the glass shards flying everywhere. Some hit Sam on the legs, while others scattered around the pair.

"I guess that makes-s you a bastard's child and a b-bastard child too," the older woman said with a dry chuckle. "Because of you my hu-usband le-eft me!" Sam wanted to roll her eyes, but she had learned long ago not to make a move during her mother's drunken rants. She had the scar on her sides to prove it, so she stayed silent as her mother continued her screaming. But this time her mother didn't just rant, no her mother reached down and grasping the bottle neck in her hand she turned to her daughter. Sam knew that look in her eyes and she knew that the rising hair on her neck told her to move or be killed.

Turning just in time she turned, her feet skidding under her as she stepped on a rather large piece of glass. As she fell forward her palms landed on more of the glass as her mother also managed to stumble on the glass shards, but she wasn't as lucky as her child who had fallen on her hands, no Pamela fell on her face, the remains of glass cutting up her countenance. With a howl of rage she attempted to get up, but Sam, barefoot and all, took off, her feet screaming in pain as she rushed out the door, the sounds of her mother cursing following her as she ran down the black streets.

She didn't even look back as she ran down the streets as her mother continued to scream. Several people came out of their houses to see what was going on, but none of them stepped in to assist the teen as she ran toward the train tracks a couple of blocks down from her house. As she made a sharp turn she felt her body trying to collapse, but she refused to stop, no, her life depended on it. Seeing a moving train ahead of her she pushed her body harder to achieve her goal of leaving her mother behind, her horrible life behind. As an open boxcar appeared before her she screamed out for help. She had read stories that some people travelled in the open cars and she hopped against hope that there was someone in this one.

With luck on her side, an older woman and male peeked out at her. She screamed out for help again and the couple reached, their fingers stretching to reach her as she felt herself loosing the energy that she needed to get out of there. Again, luck helped her as their hands managed to grasp hers before she fell, as they pulled her into the boxcar. They sat her down, glancing out as Pamela came screaming down the road, in her hand the broken bottle neck.

"I will find you-u!" she screamed out as blood continued to drip down her face. The couple looked to the teen laying on the floor of the car and took in the fact that she was barefoot, bloodied up, and then they took in the look of fear in her amethyst orbs before looking back at the woman screaming at them.

"You are safe," the brunette female said as Sam felt the darkness fall over her.

"Safe," she muttered as the world went black.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In another town in Pennsylvania there was a raven haired teen, his cerulean eyes watching a beautiful Hispanic teen eat her food at the popular table. Sighing, his friend elbowed him.

"Why not take a chance with her?" the darker skinned teen male inquired. The teen looked at his friend, the look on his face one of are you freaking kidding me?

"Tucker, just because you like getting shot down by the female gender doesn't mean that I like to," he said instead. Turning back to the girl he sighed again. "Paulina is just too good for someone like me." His friend sighed as he shook his head. Danny was wrong about that one. If anything Danny was too good for the female sitting at what Tucker referred to as the "Bitch" table, because everyone at the table was either the bitch, a bitch or someone else's bitch and not worth his time. He did like to hit on them, but that was because those bitches were always putting out or so he had heard.

"Danny, I don't know what you see in her besides a chance to lose your virginity, but she is not girlfriend material." Danny said nothing as he continued to watch the girl as she took out her mirror and began to check her skin as a blond male next to her ogled her openly, his hand resting on her leg as she smiled. "Okay, just forget that I am here," the dark male muttered as he pulled out his PDA. "My girlfriend needs some attention anyway." Hugging the large electronic close he kissed it while at the same time petting it like he really was holding a woman in his arms.

"And there are times I wonder why I hang out with you," the cerulean eyed teen muttered. The bell rang above them signaling the end of the lunch hour, teens around them getting up while others paid no heed to the bell's warning. Getting up Danny headed for the trash can while Tucker headed for the door just as Jazz rushed past them on her way to her classes. The technophile sighed now as he watched his friend's older sister run down the hall, her red locks blowing around her as she glanced at them. "Um, that is disgusting," Danny muttered as he noticed how his friend waved slowly at his sibling.

"At least she is intelligent," Tucker muttered. Heading off to class they weren't aware that their life was about to change with the appearance of a teen on the run.


	2. Chapter 2

When Sam woke up a whole night had passed and the couple that had saved her were gone, leaving her alone. Looking out at the land passing her by, she wondered where she was and just like that her new life started with a bump, knocking her out of the boxcar. With a scream she fell face first onto the rocky right-of-way, her lights went out again, but this time she was lucky that it didn't last long, as minutes later she opened her eyes, the amethyst orbs rather dazed as she looked around her.

"Where am I?" Then it hit her as she looked down at her hands and cloths. "Who am I?" Sitting there on the side of the tracks as the train passed behind her, she wondered why she was out there and where she had come from. As she moved to stand, she found that putting any pressure on her foot sent a shaft of pain up her body. Sitting back down, she turned her foot so she could see the bottom and found that her feet were riddled with small glass shards and one big cut. A tear escaped as she sat there, her long raven locks falling into her face as she cried, for what reason she wasn't sure, but she felt like crying as emotion after emotion fell over her.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few yards away from her, were Tucker and Danny, both of them heading home, when they heard the sound of crying before noticing the small body huddled next to the clear tracks. Walking over there, Danny left Tucker at the edge, since the darker male didn't think it was a good idea to approach someone sitting next to the tracks.

"Probably a hobo that fell out of the train," he stated as he watched Danny approach the female. As soon as he was about an inch or two away from her he reached out, his hand falling on her hand.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sam looked up, her amethyst eyes wide in fear and confusion. Cerulean eyes grew wide at those eyes, eyes that were so like his mother's own purple eyes, but so different. "Are you?"

"I don't know, I guess." Danny crouched down, something telling him to help her, that this girl sitting before him needed his assistance. He saw her cut up face and wondered what had happened to her, because besides that her clothing was torn up, blood staining some of it. She didn't say anything more as she sat there, watching him.

"Well, um, my name is Danny and this is Tucker," he said as he pointed to the techno-geek standing several feet away. "What happened to you?" She looked down, her hands shaking as she turned them over to look, and Danny gasped at the cuts and blood that had dried on her small palms, the bits of glass embedded in her pale hands worrying him. "How did you get that?" She looked up at him and he could see the confusion in her eyes as she shrugged. "What is your name?"

"Um, I don't know," she whispered sadly. "I don't know where I am and I don't know where I am from," she muttered. "I don't know why, but I can't remember anything except now, this moment right now." Tucker moved forward now, realizing that the woman was a teen just like them, while Danny stood.

"Sounds like amnesia," the technophile stated as he held out his PDA, the symptoms that Sam was experiencing listed with the diagnosis at the top of that.

"What?" the raven haired male asked in confusion. "What does that mean?" The raven haired female watched the pair and found, for some reason, no fear in being around them and yet... she felt fear from something. That was what this pain in her chest was, right? They continued their conversation and then both of them looked to her. "What do we do with her? We don't even know where she's from."

"I think that Jazz can help with this, as she is a brain and all." Danny nodded. Perhaps his sister could assist since she was training to be a psychologist . He held his hand out to her, her amethyst gaze landing on his teen hands. It had been a while, or so she felt, that she had even touched another person her age or at all. Taking his hand without hesitation he helped her up careful not to touch her palm, but at the moment she put weight on her feet, she let out a yelp before dropping back on the ground. Danny crouched back down, Tucker following suit as the pair looked at the bottom of her feet with a wince.

"Damn," Danny muttered. How in the world? "I suppose you don't remember about that?" he queried. She nodded. Moving forward he picked her up, only to find that she weighed practically nothing at all. Wow, what happened to this girl? Pulling her close, the pair of males walked away from the tracks and on their way to Danny's house, Fenton Works. Arriving in the house they found it empty, save for the sound of Jazz on the phone as she always was when she arrived home. "Let's get you to my room and then when Jazz gets off the phone we can ask her for help and-" Looking at her clothing. "some clothing."

Sam nodded as the trio walked up the stairs, turning opposite of the red head talking in her room with the door open, but just as they entered the room, the sound of Jazz saying bye to whoever she was talking to, echoed down the hall.

"Danny?" she called out questionably.

"Yeah, it's me!" he called back. "I need your help!" The sound of her coming down the hall grew louder until she was at the door and upon seeing the girl, she quickly entered, before shutting the door with a loud click.

"What in the hell?" she said as she moved to stand next to her brother. "What in the world happened?" The raven haired halfa shook his head. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"We found her out by the tracks and it seems that she has amnesia, or so Tucker thinks since she can't remember anything."

"Not even her name?" Danny shook his head. "Wow, um, why did you bring her here instead of to the police station?"

"I just figured you could help her, since she seems like either she fell off the train or someone left her for dead." Jazz looked at the bloodied female before her, the teal eyes gazing into the amethyst gaze that seemed to be telling her something. "She has more than just the cuts on her face, she has this." Taking her hand softly, he showed Jazz her glass embedded palm before he continued, "As well as the glass in her feet. I don't think that this was all just from an accident."

"Well, I think you are right. She has that look in her eyes that tells me otherwise. So, I guess you figured it was safer here than risking the fact that the system would just send her back to whoever did this?" A nod. "Okay, well, let's get her cleaned up and then I can give her some of my clothing." As she reached for Sam though the small teen whimpered as she moved toward Danny, her hand, though still hurting, grasping onto his white shirt.

"What's the matter?" Tucker inquired as they all noticed the fear that had entered the small teen's amethyst gaze.

"No," Sam muttered as she began to shake now. "No. Only you," she said as she looked to Danny with a pleading look. "No red, no teal..." Danny looked to his sister.

"Can we take that as abuse, with the way she's reacting to you?" Jazz nodded. "I guess I can run the water, but I am not staying in there with her while she takes a bath."

"Understood, but she might not like that and with her as she is right now, just sitting in there with your back to her probably won't hurt." The halfa's face turned red as he looked down at the teen still clinging to him.

'Could I do that? Sit with a girl who is so obviously my age while she takes a bath?' Looking at her pleading, large amethyst orbs he turned back to Jazz and nodded. "I guess I have no real choice." Taking Sam back in his arms they headed for his bathroom, where he laid her on the toilet seat, before realizing something. "How will I get these off of her?" Tucker headed over to the large black desk next to Danny's bed, where he pulled out a pair of scissors, holding it up for the raven haired male to see. "Um, that means I have to put her in the tub too with her... naked."

"Danny, how did you think she was going to get in there with her feet like that?" his sister asked, in awe at his clueless attitude. "Just cut them off of her while Tucker and I get some clothing and the first aid kit." Leaving the halfa alone with the raven haired girl, he looked down at the scissors that Tucker had left in his care, before looking at her. She said nothing as he began to cut off the blue jeans, jeans that were a couple of sizes too big for the teen female, before working on the shirt, well, what was left of it since it was rather tattered.

"What were they thinking when the dressed you in these?" he muttered as he pulled away the shirt, leaving her in her panties and bra. Sam was pretty small, her body almost undeveloped from the lack of nutrition. "Um, I am going to have to remove that too," he told her and all she did was nod, the look in her eyes one of appreciation. Taking a deep breath he began to cut at the cloth, in that second something changed and the halfa was confused as her eyes became dazed before she struck out. As her hands made contact with the scissors she let out a scream, bringing the other two teens running back into the room to find Sam screaming as blood ran down her arm.

"What happened?"

"I don't know." They looked to her, but Jazz knew she wouldn't allow her near her, and Tucker had teal eyes so they looked beseechingly at Danny who leaned down and pulled her close. She didn't fight him as she continued to scream.

"No! Don't hurt me!" They were all shocked at those words and Danny picking her, sat down on the toilet with her in his arms, just as lost as he pulled her close. Stopped screaming so she could burrow into him. It took minutes, but it felt like hours, for her to calm down enough for him to get her completely nude so he could give her a bath. As he sat there, his back to her, he waited for her to clean herself.

When he only heard the water moving he called over his shoulder, "You can use my shampoo and stuff, you know, to clean up."

"Okay," she said, before she actually used said items. Within minutes she said, "I'm done." Danny was shocked. His sister and mother took like almost an hour to wash up, while this girl had taken ten minutes tops. "I, um, I think I got all the glass out, but I didn't want it to go down the drain." Danny nodded as he reached for a towel, before turning to her, his body not his face. She struggled to get up, but without the shards in her feet, she was able to rise and allow Danny to pull her toward him with the towel separating their bodies. Picking her up he carried her back into his room, where Tucker sat with his back to them, while Jazz waited with clothing.

"Jazz won't hurt you and I need her to help you-"

"No," she stated firmly. "No teal and no red," she muttered softly as she clung to him. The halfa looked to his sister helplessly, and Jazz just nodded. Danny sat her on the bed before grabbing the clothing from his sister, his face turning red again. This was just down right embarrassing for the halfa, who had yet to see any girl naked. Amazingly, Sam took the clothing from him and began to unwrap the towel before Danny had even a chance to turn around, some blood trickling from his nose as he swiftly turned around, but Jazz saw something as the teen female turned to lay the towel down.

"Wait?" Sam looked back at her. "There," she said pointing. Sam looked down and on her lower back was a small tattoo, the black and purple ink swirled elegantly with a green Celtic cross in the background. There was a name across it and a date below it. "Could that be her name?" Danny refused to look, but Jazz told her to hold on while she grabbed the digital camera off the halfa's desk, before taking a picture of tattoo on the raven haired girl's back.

As soon as she was done Sam pulled on the clothing issued to her, a black pair of tight pants and a black shirt with the word 'Ember, you will remember' in teal glitter on the front. It didn't even cover her belly button, but it wasn't what everyone was looking at at that moment. Danny and Tucker were looking at the image on the screen.

"I think that this is your name," Danny said as he pointed to the image, the other two nodding in approval, as Sam moved to look at the tattoo on the screen, her small finger reaching out to touch it.

"Sam?" she queried as she tried the name out again. "Sam. It sounds familiar."

"I think it fits you," Danny said with a soft smile. The raven haired teen smiled back at him. Tucker and Jazz looked at each other, then back at the pair of raven haired teenagers. They were seeing something that looked a lot like love. "So, the other number should be your birthday, right?" Jazz turned back to the screen.

"Sounds about right. So, you were born, June 1, 2004? Hmm, that's close to Danny's birthday 'cept his is on the fourth." They looked to the girl in question, who was still gazing at the tattoo, her eyes becoming slightly glazed. "Sam?" Blinking, she looked at them as the trio looked back at her in confusion.

"Sorry, I just think I remember getting this recently."

"Yeah, were one of your parents present with you?" Jazz questioned, but as soon as the question was out the teen in question stiffened before shaking her head. "You went by yourself?"

"Yeah, I went without anyone knowing," the teen replied. "There was someone with me, but I don't think he was related to me." That was just one thing she remembered and closing her eyes she could feel that day coming back to her. "I wanted a tattoo really bad, but wasn't allowed to have one. I guess that is how it works for most kids, so I went regardless." Silence as she opened her amethyst orbs again. "I paid someone to take me." They looked at her in shock as she shook her head. "That's all I remember, but I guess with time it will all come back." The teens before her nodded the agreement with that statement, while Jazz wanted to know why she forgot all of it, save for the fact that the colors red and teal seemed to bother her, no frighten her was more like it.

"Well, we need to find your parents, and since Danny doesn't feel comfortable turning you into the law, I guess we need to wait until our parents come back from one of their conventions " Sighing she headed out the room, leaving the two males with Sam who now was sitting down on the bed.

"So, what do you want to do?" Danny questioned, to which the raven haired teen shrugged. "We can go outside or maybe play some video games, whatever you want to do." Sam looked at the two males and told them she didn't care what they wanted to do, that anything would be fine with her. Tucker suggested video games and Danny agreed, so the two teen males set up the game station, an XBOX 360 with Kinect and ushering to her they made her join them in a sport game. The small female at first was unsure whether she wanted to play, but upon seeing the sports they had to offer pointed to Boxing.

"You want to play that?" the dark skinned male inquired. She nodded, and shrugging Danny chose it, only to find out that even though the small girl didn't look like a fighter, thirty minutes later that she could hand them their asses and still keep going. "Note to self," Tucker said as he fell back on the bed. "Never fight with Sam, she is a monster."

"I concur with that, but I guess that will help me with my ghost fighting." Sam blinked when he said that and Tucker smacked him. "Oh, shit."


	3. Chapter 3

Now all three of them sat on the bed as Sam just stared at him.

"Ghost fighting?"

"Never mind, it was just a joke!" Danny said as he threw his hands out to clear the air. "I was just joking around because you see-"

"Danny's parents are ghost hunters," Tucker finished.

"So, he's joking but his parents are ghost hunters?" she questioned, the look in her amethyst orbs disbelieving. "I think that you are lying to me." Both males shook their head at the same time as Sam moved to stand up, her hands falling on her hips in a motion that felt so natural to the raven haired teen. "I know a load of shit when I hear it." Now the pair of male teenagers were shocked. There was no woman that they knew, well besides Jazz, but that didn't really count, that talked like that. "In fact, I think that you are hiding something."

"Never." Sam winced as her sore feet protested to her moving around, but she did regardless.

"Danny, if you want to lie to me I guess that's fine since I have no part in your life, but at least try not to look so guilty when you do it." With that the small teen walked off, her walk slow and tortured looking, but she didn't look back as she walked out of his room and into the hall. Stopping, she looked around from what was a hall balcony that overlooked the living room below her. She really hadn't gotten a chance to look around the house when they had first entered, but as she looked around it seemed to make her feel like crying. Strange. Why would a freaking living room make me cry.

Dirty clothing...bottles...

Blinking, she shook her head as she moved along the rail toward the stairs, Danny and Tucker appeared at the door to watch her as she took a step on the stair, only to pull her foot back at the pain.

"Probably not safe to put too much weight on it since you just had all that glass pulled out." She said nothing, just nodded as she turned to look at him. "If you want I can take you down there." This time she shook her head as she moved back toward him and past him into the room. "Are you sure, because if you need to go anywhere during the time-"

"I don't need to go downstairs," she muttered as she sat down on his bed, the mattress compressing under her. "I just want to take a nap." She looked to him. "Can I do that here, or is there somewhere else, because I don't wan-" He shook his head.

"You can sleep there, that's fine. I was going to head out to grab something to eat, but if you just want to nap then I can head out later to get you something to eat."

Sam blinked as she then wondered, 'What do I like to eat?'

It was if he could read her mind when the next question was, "What do you want when you wake up?" With a shrug she laid down, the signal that she was done talking. As she rolled over, her back to them he moved to close the door. As it shut with a soft click he turned to Tucker. "I wonder what's wrong?"

"Dude, first off she doesn't remember anything and then there's the other fact that she is a female! How many of them do you know that aren't moody?" The halfa blinked in confusion and understanding, all reflecting in his cerulean orbs. "How clueless can one guy be?"

"I hate when you say shit like that," Danny muttered.

"Well, stop being that way and I will stop doing it." As the pair continued down the hallway with their bickering, Sam just lay there, her mind going back to the flashes she had seen in her mind. So far all she knew was that she was a rebel, the fact that she did what she wanted knowing she could get in trouble and that her home, well, she assumed that those flashes were her home, was a poor living environment.

"Who am I? Why am I here?" Tears began to fill her eyes as she tried to find some answers, her mind coming up blank. She knew though, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she had run, she had a feeling that she had escaped something... but what?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning found Danny up and about getting ready for school. Sam watched from her seat on the bed, Danny having slept on the floor on a blow up mattress. She had told him a million times that she would take the bed on the floor, but he wouldn't allow it so she had been forced to sleep in his bed, not that she hadn't liked it. She remembered sleeping on a bed like it before, but it was a distant memory that she couldn't grasp any easier than the others that seemed to run from her grasp. It was like grasping at sand, it just seemed to slip through her fingers.

"So, where are you going?" she queried.

"School," was his response as he headed for the bathroom to brush his teeth. She peeked in, her amethyst eyes reflecting her curiosity.

"School?" Had she ever been to school?

"You can come if you want, I mean as a guest, since you can't register." She looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. It seemed like a good idea, and maybe being around others would help her figure out her past. "Okay, well, you have less than fifteen min-" He looked up after spitting to find her gone. "utes... Wow." As he finished getting his stuff together, Sam appeared again, her form clothed in another one of Jazz's many unworn outfits.

The skirt was a dark green and barely touched her knee, while the top was a belly button shirt in plain black with nothing on it. She wore a pair of boots, black in color, that had a rather tall heel. Gulping he looked up to find that she had brushed her hair, the raven locks loose around her shoulders. "Um, wow, that was fast." What he really wanted to say was that she was looking great, but it just seemed to stick in his throat and she seemed rather oblivious to the whole thing.

"So, lets go!" Danny found it mildly strange that she seemed so excited to go to school, since most teens didn't like the idea of school because it interrupted all the fun that they were planning for the day, but then again she couldn't remember much, so maybe it was just as new to her as it was to a child going to school for the first time. Smiling at the comparison, he headed down the stairs with the raven haired girl following him. As soon as he opened the door though he was shocked to find Tucker standing there.

"Tuck?" he questioned.

"Oh, hey, I was just checking on our little lost lamb." Seeing said girl standing behind him he raised a brow. "Why is she dressed like that?" His nose leaked a little blood before he reached up to wipe it away. "And is she coming to school with you?"

"Okay, first off, get your tongue in your mouth and yes, she is going to come with me. Not like she can't leave the house." Tucker nodded as he smirked at the teen female.

"And I can look at her how I like, I don't have a girlfriend and you aren't her father, brother, or lover so back off." Sam cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Hey, Sam, do you mind if I look at you?" She blinked now as she frowned in confusion.

"Um, are you being serious?" Shrugging, she walked past the two males, even if she didn't know where she was going she wasn't going to stand around while they had some chauvinistic conversation! They looked at each other just seconds before Danny smacked the other male with a curse as he rushed to catch up with her, an apology on his lips. "Don't really want to talk about the fact that the pair of you were acting like I was yours. I am no ones." That was feeling really right to her. She felt like that was her normal attitude and at the same time she couldn't tell why. Was she a bitch? Was that why she was alone right now?

"I wasn't trying to be like that," the halfa said as they turned toward his school. "I just didn't think that he should look at you like that, I mean for all we know that name on your back is your boyfriend's or something." That stopped her as what he said made perfect sense. It could be her boyfriend's name and not hers. "Sorry if it came off like that."

"It's fine. I guess I never thought of that, but for some reason I don't feel like that that's my boyfriend's name, if I have one. I really do think it's my name." Tucker caught up with them at that point, so the raven haired female started walking again, her vision landing on a large school that looked like something out of a 1960's movie or something. As she saw it another flash came to her, another place so much like this one, but yet what was it? Then it hit her. She knew this place! "I've seen this place!"

"Say what?" both males asked in unison. She turned to them, a wide smile on her face.

"The school was on a news station one year about the fact that they actually had ghosts! I remember it!" Turning back around, she ran across the street, leaving the two male teens to run to catch up with her. She ran past several students who stopped to stare as Danny and Tucker pursued her. Throwing open the doors to the large building, she turned looked around and smiling headed down looking at the numbers on the lockers, her steps slow at the moment allowing the two boys to catch up.

"What are you looking for?" Tucker managed to ask first as they stopped to catch their breath.

"Locker 724. That is the locker they talked about on the TV."

"Why that locker?" Danny asked. Sam turned a corner, her amethyst eyes still searching for the infamous locker.

"It was the locker that belonged to a guy named Sidney Poindexter, a nerd who was bullied back in the 1950's. Poor kid never had a moment's rest since he was stuffed into his locker at least twice a day by several of the football students, and then after that by anyone who wanted to graduate." She glanced at them. "Because after that it became a graduation requirement. Poor kid died in his locker."

"SAY WHAT?!" Tucker screamed causing all to look at him. "Are you trying to tell me that some kid died in his locker in this school?!" Now there was a crowd drawing around them and Danny was getting a little nervous. There were sounds of unease in the crowd, but it just seemed to feed Sam's story as she turned to look at them.

"Yeah, but let me find it." Continuing on her way, the group of teens following her as she continued to talk. "He was seventeen and about to graduate early since he was a nerd and all, but there was one guy who held a grudge and that guy wasn't going to graduate. He felt it was Sidney's fault and cornered him one day after school when all the teachers were too busy in the lounge and his locker was so far from the teachers' lounge that it wouldn't have mattered." Suddenly she stopped in front of a locker that really looked like it had seen better days, the outside rusted unlike all the newer lockers around it. Little did anyone know that a teacher was listening to the tale from the small female's lips.

"He was beaten up, his small body beaten beyond recognition before being stuffed in his locker for the final time, but he could have been helped because one teacher just happened to be walking around at the time."

"Really?" Danny inquired, now finding the story interesting. "Why did he die then?"

"Sadly, the locker had been slammed too many times and couldn't be opened. When the fire department finally made it there poor Sidney had died. His injuries had managed to break one of his ribs and that rib had been forced into his lung." She looked around at the group that had gathered around. "Um, the end." A clapping began in the back as a balding teacher began to walk through the crowd. The bell sounded above them and the students cleared out leaving Sam, Danny and Tucker as the teacher stopped before them.

"That was a great story," he said. "Most kids don't remember what they learned two minutes after hearing it, but for you to remember almost word for word a story that played almost five years ago. Now that is a feat." Sam blushed lightly.

"I just find ghost stories interesting." After saying it she blinked. "I do like ghost stories." At the look on Lancer's face made Danny feel like he needed to explain.

"She lost her memory."


	4. Chapter 4

A few hours later found Sam sitting in the back of the class next to Danny, the raven haired beauty receiving very approving stares from most of the males in the class, making the halfa at her side a little uneasy. The problem for him was he didn't know why he was feeling uneasy because Sam seemed to be oblivious to the stares and open praise. In fact the teen in question was actually listening to the teacher, her eyes glued to the bald male as he pointed at the chalkboard, but Danny could see that something was bothering her by the fact she was beginning to bite her bottom lip.

Sam was finding that she knew all of what he was talking about, as if she had heard it all before and yet that didn't make sense. How can that be? I am the same age as Danny so I shouldn't know this yet. Am I older then or did I already go through this grade? It was making her so mad, with that gap in her memory she wasn't able to piece together why she knew so little about herself and yet she knew so much about other things. Danny seemed to realize that she was becoming frustrated, so the halfa laid his hand on her arm, the touch bringing her out of her daze. They were sitting at his desk, her chair on his right since he was the closest to the window, so they didn't have to worry about anyone hearing them as he leaned closer to her.

"What's wrong?" Sam looked at him and he could see it all. "It's going to be frustrating and I wish I could help you, but not knowing you myself limits me to just being a shadow to all that you figure out." The Goth nodded because she knew that what he was saying was true, but she felt like crying and that was something she didn't like doing. Problem was it was all she seemed to be doing at the moment. Sighing she turned back to the teacher, but Danny didn't. He continued to look at her and in his heart he felt a pain. He felt bad for her and the fact that she couldn't even remember her life, but there was more to that. In the little time that he had known her, the one day in fact, he felt a connection to her.

'That would suck. I can't even begin to imagine what that would be like not to know your name or your parents' names much less your life.' As the bell rang overhead Sam suddenly found herself surrounded by most of the male peers, all of them talking at once as they introduced themselves to the mysterious Goth. "What the hell?" the halfa muttered as he stood up to block them off from Sam as the teen in question raised a brow. Suddenly over the heads of the boys Danny spotted Paulina, the look on the Hispanic's face one of confusion and something else that he couldn't pin point at that moment. With all that was going on at that moment Danny was torn on where he should be because he wanted to help Sam, but he also wanted to follow the Latina, the girl that he really liked.

"Danny?" came a voice to his side causing the halfa to look down at Sam. "You can go. I don't need a bodyguard." His brows went up as she stood, her body stiff as she walked past him and toward the Hispanic teen, her intent unknown. Danny was sure she was leaving the room, but the Goth stopped before the other female. "Hi," she said as she held out her hand in greeting. Paulina looked at it as if it were some sort of bug, something to avoid, but noticing that they had an audience took it so as not to make a scene. "You must be the popular girl that these boys belong to. If you could call them off I would appreciate it, since I have no interest in them." After saying that she withdrew her hand. "Also, I think that Danny, that teen male over there," she said as she pointed him out. "I am sure likes you and wants to ask you out."

Now she walked off, leaving a group of men watching her in shock, a Hispanic female in confusion and a halfa with his mouth hanging open. Now Paulina turned her attention to Danny, the halfa closing his mouth as a blush broke out over his cheeks. She smiled, her smile evil as she realized she had another follower that she had been unaware of, before she walked over to him, her teal eyes looking him over, checking him out in accordance with his clothing, appearance and body type. She seemed to to like what she saw as she nodded.

"Maybe." That was the one word she said before heading out the same way Sam had, the Goth girl long gone. Danny just stood there in shock at what had just happened.

"What had just happened?"

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"I can't believe she did that!" the halfa grumbled at lunch a few moments later, the dark skinned boy sitting across from him nodding as he took a bit of his burger. Neither had seen hide nor hair of said Goth since she had dropped that bomb on Paulina. "I'm just in shock that she would do that and then disappear!" Tucker rolled his eyes in annoyance. He didn't understand why the halfa was so worked up. Putting his burger down he concentrated on Danny as he began to talk.

"First off, Sam is a virtual stranger so everything she does is new to you and two, you know you should be glad because now you know that there is a small chance that Paulina would date you. You could get a date and be over that thing called virginity." The halfa's face turned red, his eyes narrowing at what the techno-geek had just said. This again? He was tired of everything that the male across from said about the Hispanic teen.

"That is not what I want from Paulina. I want to actually be her-" He was cut off as Tucker held up his hand, the dark skinned male growing frustrated with his friend's naivety.

"Dude, have you ever seen that girl actually date anyone?! All the boys flock around her asking for dates and she never just dates one of them." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Paulina is one of those girls that when she gets married, and she will to someone who can provide her with all the money she wants to play with, she will be having multiple lovers on the side."

"I think you're just judging her from what you think you see," the halfa pointed out as he began to grow even more upset with Tucker. Suddenly someone appeared next to him, and both males looked to find Sam, a tray of salad in her hands. Placing it down on the table she looked to Tucker.

"I agree with Tucker." Sam sat down next to Danny before taking a bite of her salad. "Paulina is just as he has described her, but if you want her to date you then you are going to have to change your life around to fit what she would want. In fact, I think with the fact that you are over the middle class, and of a little higher rank, you have a greater chance than someone like Tucker." Tucker frowned as he realized that the Goth had insulted him.

"Hey!"

"No offence," she said with a wave in his direction. "Tucker, you are, from what I can tell, a middle class teen, but as I have seen Danny's house, and knowing that his parents have to have money coming in to fund all those inventions in that very nice looking lab of theirs-"

"You were at the house? How did you get in?" Sam reached into her pocket and laying a golden key on the table she continued her speech, as Danny stared in shock at the key. How had she gotten that? Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his and then taking hers placed both of them in his pocket.

"That you have money. If you want to change for a female then I can help you." Danny and Tucker looked at each other in confusion and then back to her.

"Okay, so you have been here all of one day and you know all that?" Tucker inquired skeptically. She nodded. "How is it that you can't remember your life, but all this comes to you?"

"Mannerisms are learned and more natural while your life is visual " At the confused looks on their face she sighed. "You learned to walk, thus you do it without thinking, while other things are not so natural and can be changed or forgotten." Now they seemed to get it. "So, Danny, are you willing to change your image to gain her approval?" The halfa nodded without hesitation. "Okay, so starting tonight I think we will up your look a little bit before going onto the next phase." Getting up she left her tray before heading out of the large, less crowded room. As soon as she left Tucker turned to Danny.

"Are you sure about this? I mean you could have a girl that is better than Paulina and would make a better girlfriend." Danny nodded.

"I like Paulina, not some other girl." Getting up the halfa left the techno geek alone at the table, a scowl on the teen's face as he shook his head, his teal eyes turning back to the Hispanic girl.

"You are making a mistake."

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Danny entered his house alone after school, Tucker refusing to be a part of the scheme that he and Sam were about to do. As he opened the door to the house he found it empty, his cerulean eyes finding no one in the main room. When he thought he was alone he heard the sound of singing, a soft voice filling the air, but he couldn't hear any music. Looking up the stairs he was sure it was coming from the second floor. Taking the steps slowly he heard the sound of music, an unfamiliar voice singing with the tune on what he assumed was the radio because he was sure he had never heard the song on any of his CD's. As he entered his room he found Sam, her back to him, in his closet throwing several items onto the bed. Her voice sound slightly interested as she looked at shirt after shirt. As she peered into the darkness that contained several years of outfits, some worn while others still had tags, she hummed to the tune. Funny. I was sure that I heard someone singing... Shrugging he continued to watch her.

"Doable," came her voice as she threw a red shirt on his bed. Creeping closer he looked down at the unfamiliar shirt with just a number one on it in big bold white. "Eh." Another item came flying as she continued to build a pile on his bed. As he took another step the small Goth girl stiffened, the floor board creaking under his weight. She turned to him, her amethyst eyes full of fear and in that instant he realized that Sam wasn't just some girl off the streets. There was a chance that this raven haired girl had come from an abusive home.

Was it male abuse? Shaking his head to dispatch the image that entered his mind with that thought he watched as she visibly relaxed, a scowl replacing the fear that had been apparent on her face just moments ago. Her hands fell on her hips as she glowered at him.

"Don't do that," she chided. "You could give me a heart attack." Stepping toward him, and yet staying on the other side of the bed, she tossed a pair of blue jeans with a hole in the left knee at him before pointing toward his bathroom. Shrugging he took the jeans into the other room. When he exited a few minutes later his face didn't look too pleased with the outcome. In fact he looked uncomfortable, but that didn't faze the raven haired beauty before him.

"These feel strange," he muttered as he tugged at the pants, the fit tighter than his normal clothing. Sam giggled as she moved toward him, instructing him to pull his shirt up. Blushing he looked at her questionably. "I am not interested in your nakedness, Danny, just in seeing how the pants fit." When he didn't immediately do what she said, she reached out and yanked it up and Danny thought, No. Not abuse at the hands of male. Even knowing that she was abused, he was glad to know that no male had touched her. She nodded her approval and Danny found a smile curl his lips.

"Time to take that shirt off," the Goth said to his surprise, the red shirt from before thrown into his arms. "Go on!" Shoving him into the bathroom she followed. After shoving him into the small lavatory she closed the door with a resounding slam. "And hurry because next we need to do something about your hair!"

"Um, I don't know..." Danny liked his hair, and thinking about what Sam could do to it, he found the idea of changing that part of his appearance upsetting.

"Don't worry, I am not going to do anything drastic like chop it off or anything!" As the door opened and he stepped out she found her heart stopping. Not that he wasn't hot before, but with these tighter, more form fitting clothing she found that he really...popped and sizzled with sexuality! Composing herself, she pushed him back into the bathroom before she began an hour long hair session to perfect his rather shaggy look. "Perfect," she said at the end of the hour. "Now, tomorrow we are going to pull off the biggest scam!"

"Scam?" Danny didn't like that word. It sounded so bad.

"Yeah, we are going to scam the high school into thinking you are something else."

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The next morning when Tucker showed up at the house to walk with Danny to school he found a pair of teens, one looking rather uncomfortable and one who looked indifferent. Danny was dressed in the jeans with a hole in the knee, but his shirt was green with nothing on it. His hair wasn't much different save for the fact that it had mousse in it making it stand up a little more.

"What the fuck?" the techno-geek questioned as Danny walked down the stairs toward him. That was when Tucker saw Sam. She was in a short black skirt with a belly button shirt that was toned forest green and was skin tight. Her hair was pulled back today, a good portion of it hanging around her shoulder while a small ponytail hung high on her head. She wore a pair of black boots again, but she didn't look like she did yesterday. Her eyes were shuttered and she looked rather withdrawn. Taking his hand, she started down the street prompting Tucker to follow. "Um, what is going on?"

"Well, um, Sam has a plan that, well, it-"

"I'm going to pretend that Danny and I are dating," she said nonchalantly.


	5. Chapter 5

"YOU ARE WHAT?!" the dark skinned male screamed, the pair of teens looking at him as if he had grown a second head. The female teen groaned in frustration. Tucker just had to yell.

"I'm going to need you to not yell about that," the Goth stated. "If we want to pull this off then you are going to have to play the game too, otherwise stay on the bench." Turning back around she continued on her walk with Danny, the halfa walking along with her. He was unsure as to how this plan was going to work, but somehow he knew that Sam knew what she was talking about and trusted her enough to let her do what needed to be done. Tucker stood there for at least a minute trying to compute what she had said before rushing to catch up with the pair of teens.

"How is this supposed to work when you just told Paulina yesterday that Danny had a thing for her?" Sam didn't even look up as she gave him her explanation.

"Here is how it works," she started. "Danny now has been checked out, his look enough for her to give him a once over and maybe a thought, but a girl like Paulina doesn't like to share, so me going out with him will make him more desirable."

"I don't understand that logic," both males said. Sam shot Danny a look, she had explained the same thing to him just yesterday, and seeing the look of confusion on his face made her want to scream because the halfa next to her was smarter than anyone, including himself, gave him credit for.

"What if she takes that as him being taken and blows him o-" A chuckle interrupted Tucker as Sam began to laugh. "What is so funny?" The Goth just shook her head, informing him that both males would see that she was on the mark. As they drew closer to the school Danny started noticing the looks he was getting from both the males and the females. He noticed that Sam was also receiving looks, the couple continuing up the walk, now at an even gait with her hand still in his hand. Danny just walked, his hand slightly limp, that is until Sam squeezed his hand and stopping before the entire school she pulled him close. With perfect timing, not that Sam hadn't seen her coming, Paulina walked by just as Sam planted a kiss on the rather shocked raven haired male.

Never been with a guy...

As Paulina grew close Sam pulled back, her cheeks as red as his own pair. Leaning into him, like she had seen on the TV last night when she was supposed to be sleeping she whispered, "Gonna have to get used to that or this won't work." Danny nodded as her arms came around his shoulders as she pulled back. Giving him one more peck she took his hand again to turn and both found Paulina looking strangely at them, but Sam could see the look in the teal eyes that watched them as they continued onto his locker. As soon as they were out of the Latina's hearing range the Goth said, "You're in." Danny was still in a daze from what had been his first official kiss, not counting the kiss from the little girl when he had been five. Sam seemed to notice that he was off in La La Land so she called his name. "Danny?" She leaned close and seeing the look in his eyes blanching realized that he was in shock. "Okay, Danny, if this is going to be a problem then maybe we shouldn't do this." That seemed to snap the halfa out of his daze.

"No, sorry," he muttered. "You just kind of shocked me with that move."

"What do you think a couple does together? They kiss and hold hands." Danny blinked at her tone, one of detachment. "We have to play a part and if you space out like that then someone's going to realize that this isn't what it appears to be." Danny's eyes narrowed as others passed them, the couple mildly hidden since they were still standing so close to each other.

"I know that we are scamming everyone into believing this, but you never told me that you would do that!" Letting out a frustrated sound, the raven haired female looked around. Upon seeing the girl's restroom grabbed his hand before dragging him into the bathroom as several people watched in shock. Turning to lock the door she didn't see the look of horror on his face as he realized he was in the girl's restroom. "Um, I don't th-" The Goth grabbed him and throwing him up against the door laid another kiss on him, her dark lips silencing the words that he had been about to say. Pulling back she looked down at him to find that he was looking dazed again.

"Here's how it works, and the more comfortable you are with this, the better," she muttered. Danny looked up at her, his cerulean eyes wide in shock. "If I have to do this over and over until you stop looking like a deer in the headlights then I will, but if you keep looking like that it will look like you ha- Oh, dear god! Danny, you haven't ever been with a girl, have you?" When he said nothing she smacked herself. "Damn it. Okay, sorry." She turned from him. "I didn't realize that you were g-"

"That was your first kiss too," he stated. He couldn't understand how Sam was acting so unaffected. Most girls held their first kiss until they found the guy that they wanted to give it to. Some precious gift, and the Goth standing before him had given it to him. Sam stiffened and turned to him, her amethyst orbs questioning. "I could just tell with the way you did it. I guess that makes us even because of that we both had our first kiss together." Blinking Sam looked relieved at his attitude change. He would be okay, because she had begun to worry if it was such a good idea, but now she could tell that he was going to try. At the same time she felt bad, but why? Giving herself a mental shake she smiled.

"Maybe it was and if so then I am glad that it- I wasn't the only newbie." Reaching over she unlocked the door just as the bell rang overhead. "Time to play."

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The first day out went fine, well, for the most part. Sam was the one that ended up doing most of the work As a girl she liked romance movies and some pretty smutty novels, so she had more visual aids than Danny had. Sure, with her limited memory she shouldn't retain those things, but somehow her memory left her something to hold onto. Holding his hand, though that had become more natural then she had ever thought it would be, they walked. Whenever they were close to each other they found their hands reaching for that connection, but neither even thought about it, because they were concentrating on playing a part.

As the bell rang in the halls signaling that school was over, Danny found himself stopping outside the school with Sam and Tucker looking to him in confusion, but then Tucker realized what was going on.

"Um, Sam, would you mind waiting inside?" Danny asked as he turned to his "girlfriend." Before she could ask why, screams fill the air as several students came running back toward the school building. Sam looked up as a blast came within feet of the trio and the stampeding teens. She was almost thrown back, but before her feet could even move Tucker had her, Danny instructing him to take the Goth back in for safety. Sam was confused now as several people were throw forward, another blast knocking them off their feet.

"Danny?" she said questionably to the halfa, but Danny said nothing so she looked to Tucker. "Tucker, why is Danny staying there?" Tucker said nothing while he dragged her back into the safety of the building, the ground shaking under them. Sam began to fight him as the vortex like creature dropped down before them, his grin feral. Knocking Tucker onto the ground the raven haired female rushed to the door just in time to see him change, his own raven locks changing to white as his school clothing became a white and black hazmat suit. "Danny?" she queried as the wind changed around them, the large weather creature calling forth more bad weather as ran began to fall on them, but Sam didn't move, her amethyst eyes glued on the male teen as he took to the air to battle the monster.

"Not you again you weather freak!" The large ghost cackled above the teen, his red eyes flashing.

"You stopped my fun the last time, but this time you will find that I am not so easily defeated." Danny flew around him, the blasts from his hands far more powerful than they had been when he had first had become ghost. It took blast after blast for Danny to bring the large monstrosity down, and while he did that he knew that the clouds overhead had to go, but he had no way to force that. While he was floating there, his mind working around a way to force the clouds to dissipate, Sam was joined by a very ticked off Tucker.

"Damn it, Sam, you need to get inside." She shook her head as she looked to the techno-geek.

"I think Danny needs help," she stated as she pointed up at the hovering halfa. Tucker looked at the halfa and realized that unlike last time they had no ship to push the clouds. "Don't you help him?" The geek next to her nodded. "Well, help him!" When Tucker looked thoughtful, Sam took action as she raced out toward the cyclone, her clothing blowing with the force of the winds from the monster. What to do? Tucker re-joined her, and grasping her wrist, started to drag her down the street in the direction of Fenton Works.

"We need to get to Fenton Works because knowing Mr. Fenton there should be a device to assist us." That's when it hit her.

"A satellite." Tucker looked over his shoulder at her as behind them the pair continued their fight, Danny's think time cut short as Vortex began to fight. "We need a satellite and we need that creature closer."

"What are you talking about?" the geek inquired as they rushed into Fenton Works, Sam continuing her run up the stairs. When she couldn't find a door to the large structure above them, she called down to the dark skinned teen. At first she didn't receive a response and then he appeared at the foot of the stairs. "You can't get up there unless you call for it." Tilting her head to the side she waited for him to finish. "Sam, what are you planning to do with the OP's center?"

"I won't be doing anything. You will be." Tucker shook his head. "You know more about electronics, I just have an idea that might bring that thing down a little." When he still looked like he didn't want to do it, she explained her plan and what it would do in such a thorough way that finally the techno-geek appeared to agree.

"If I am doing this then what are you doing?"

"Playing the distraction to get it here." Running off she left him to get it up in running, but how long did he have and could he do it in that amount of time?


	6. Chapter 6

Sam rushed out of the house, her boots clunking on the ground before she realized that they were going to hinder her, but she couldn't stop now because she could see that Danny was being trashed now. Pushing her body she screamed out to the monster.

"Hey!" Stopping under him she cupped her hands to grab his attention with a louder voice. "Hey, spring shower! You aren't nothing but a cloud with no spark!" At first Vortex paid her no attention, but then she continued to blare her insults at him. "You couldn't even make a maelstrom much less a thunderstorm!" His red gaze locked on her, his gloved hands crackling as the skies over them darkened further, lightening striking around them, the thunder shaking the ground below them. "That's right! I called you a weakling because if you have to pick on a human to get off then you are a sick little weakling!"

"Why you?!" the large storm screamed as he started rushing toward her. Sam smirked as she turned and began to run, while still throwing insults at the ghost following her. Danny's eyes grew wide as he rushed down toward her, but before he could get close enough to her Vortex smacked at him, the large ghost managing to knock Danny into a building. Sam looked up at Fenton Works, the building growing closer with each step, but she was worried when she noticed that the satellite wasn't powering up like she needed it to. Turning around to look at the ghost still thundering after her she screamed out another insult making the large weather ghost shoot at her, the lightening hitting the ground in front of her. She found herself unable to dodge the shock and hitting the hole left from it she tripped, her body falling forward as Vortex reared up over her. Sam turned to look at him, her amethyst eyes wide with the knowledge she was going to die.

throwing the bottle on the ground... the glass shards flying everywhere

reached down and grasping the bottle neck in her hand she turned

Blinking Sam watched the gloved hand of the ghost crackle with blue energy and she felt a calm fall over her body. Watching as his hand came toward her she waited, but before it could hit her she fell a body crash into hers as she was knocked to the roadside as Danny stood in front of her, his back to her at the moment. The Gothic teen grabbed his leg, her plan still in motion, but hindered for the fact that the fall just seconds ago had managed to twist her ankle.

"Run!" he hissed. She pulled on his boot.

"I can't!" she said back. Danny turned to find the small raven haired teen looking at him while pointing to her foot. He couldn't see anything, but judging by the look in her eyes she must be in pain. Taking her into his arms he began to fly into the skies as the weather ghost followed, his rage obvious by the fact that there was now a real storm crashing around them. "We need to get to your house!" she called over the thunder as the skies shook. The rain was so powerful and so heavy that they couldn't see very well through it and it was beginning to push them back out of the skies. "Tucker is at your house trying to set my plan in motion." The halfa looked shocked to say the least when he realized what she had been doing out here.

"You were the distraction!? I ought to kill that-" She shook her head as Danny flew in the direction she had been heading toward.

"I was the one that did the instructing and he didn't know I was going to do it until after the fact." The halfa looked at the girl in his arms, her hair slicked down and her clothing sticking to her and couldn't believe that this little thing wasn't afraid to get dirty and fight something that could kill her with one look. Before either could say anything more the sound of something crackling caught their attention. At first they thought that Vortex had caught up with them, but the sound was coming from before them. Looking up Sam smiled. "He did it." Looking up at Danny she instructed him on what she needed him to do. "We just have seconds so I hope you have some way to beat him after this."

"I do." Doing as she instructed, they headed for the light that was beginning to glow before them from the OP's center. "Does he know when to do it?" She nodded. As soon as they were just feet in front of the building, that served as both home and lab for the Fenton adults, Danny turned as Vortex appeared out of the rain, his red eyes narrowing on the pair of teens.

"What are you going to do, drown us?" Sam screamed out. "I don't see anything here worth being afraid of besides the ugliness of your face!" Letting out a scream of rage at the impudence of the human female, he charged at them and going intangible Danny allowed the weather ghost to go through him. Sam, still in his arms, hadn't known that he was going to do that and let out a squeak at the tingling of her body. Vortex ran into the large dish, his body shaking as Tucker pushed the button as soon as the contact was made. Sam was placed on the building as Danny turned to the shuddering form of the weather ghost seconds before the villain dropped.

His smoking form hit the ground making a hole in front of his house. With a quickness Danny pulled out his thermos, letting the blue light hit the downed ghost. Within seconds of Vortex being sucked into the thermos the rain stopped and clouds cleared. Danny looked down at the hole in front of his house before the whoop of triumph hit his ears. Looking at the door he found Tucker there with a smile on his face. Both men looked up at the Goth sitting on the edge of the building, her gaze at the skies above them with a frown. Floating up to her, Danny realized she wasn't looking at the skies, she was spacing out.

"Sam, are you okay?" The teen before him jumped before looking at him.

"Yeah, I just was thinking about what just happened." Danny sat down next to her, his eyes locking with the amethyst eyes of Sam. "Never ever thought I would find myself in a situation like that.... and yet somehow it doesn't bother me that I could have been killed out there." Danny blinked. That had been what the halfa had just been thinking moments before. "It's strange, but I guess I am not normal by any measure." She looked back out at the clouds. "Never want to be either." They sat like that for a moment before she turned to him. "I won't tell anyone."

"I believe you."

"I don't know how you can trust me, not knowing one thing about me, hell, I don't trust myself."

"That's the thing about me. I can tell that you aren't one to betray someone. I mean you are even helping me with Paulina, and you don't know me from Adam, so why should I think that you are a bad person?" Sam looked at her hands in her lap.

"But that's the thing, Danny. Who is to say that I'm not a bad person?" Her mind went back to what she had remembered while running from the weather ghost just moments before. Someone had been trying to kill her, so that must mean she had done something wrong, right? People didn't just want to kill you without you having done something to deserve it.

"Sam, I don't think that you are a bad person. Just because something bad happened to you before we found you, doesn't mean you did anything to deserve it. There are bad people out there that just take their resentment out on others because they want to feel better." Sam smiled, but she didn't feel it, the words that he had said. "Now, let's get changed before we get a cold or something worse."

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The next few days passed without much incident, the ghosts didn't bother them too much and the couple managed to find a rhythm in their scam. They made sure to stay close together and hold hands as often as they could. It wasn't too hard to do all that, since Sam was his guest then she was always in his presence, at his side and at his desk. One day later that week though Sam found herself feeling a little uneasy as the trio walked toward the lunch room. It was the feeling of being watched and she found that she didn't like the feeling. It was like her heart was trying to escape her chest and the fast beating of her heart also was making her shaky.

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Within the next couple of weeks Danny grew worried enough to say something and Sam blew him off just as quickly, her explanations short and vague, like lack of sleep or just spacing out. As the days passed though that feeling of fear began to grow and Sam found herself feeling so paranoid that she lost some of her appetite.

"Sam, I know that something is bothering you," the halfa said one day after school as they walked home together, Tucker heading home to assist his mother in one of her baking endeavors. Sam yawned as the lack of sleep in the last few days had finally caught up with her. She needed sleep and yet at the same time, she couldn't seem to find the Land of Nod. Danny stopped walking, forcing the small Goth to stop. Placing his fingers under her chin, he forced her to look up at him. "Look at those circles under your eyes and you look pale." Her eyes narrowing the dark haired girl pushed his hand away.

"Thanks. I am pale, if you haven't noticed, and as for the dark circles, I told you already that I haven't been sleeping all that well, okay." Danny was put off by her attitude and couldn't understand why she was acting so secretive all of a sudden either. Moving faster the small Goth headed for the house, her eyes flickering around her as she watched for anyone, anything that looked out of place. Her mind kept bringing pictures, images of a lady with red hair and a blond male with blue eyes. The male didn't seem to like her at all, but the woman seemed to hate her even more.

Last night she had gone to the bathroom to look at herself because seeing the two in her dreams had made her question her own appearance. Rubbing her eyes now, she wondered again if she were adopted or had she been kidnapped, because the pair had looked nothing like her, well, not in coloring anyway. She had only seen a glimpse of them and couldn't make out their full faces, just basic features. Danny moved quickly to catch up with her.

"Sam, I want to know what is going on," he said as they drew closer to his house. "It's not just your appearance that is bothering me, but your attitude too. You seem... I don't know, distracted and uneasy. Are you afraid of something?" Sam didn't stop and she didn't answer him, so Danny stepped in front of her again, this time pulling her into a hug. At first the young female struggled to get away from him, but within minutes she stopped fighting, her spirit breaking as all the images from her past began to assault her. Not all of her memories, but all the ones that she had recovered from her time with Danny.

"I don't know who I am, I can see images and not a single one of them is good," she spewed forth as she struggled to bottle up the emotions that were trying to escape, her small body shaking. Danny had noticed that her body seemed to be filling out with all the food she had eaten. Her color had come back judging from her first moments in his home, but now the small female was beginning to lose all that in the last week. "And I think that someone tried to kill me."


	7. Chapter 7

"What?" the halfa questioned as he leaned back from her for a moment. "Some one tried to kill you? When?" Sam released him and headed for the house, the raven haired male following her quickly. Opening the door the pair headed in where Sam went to the living room. Danny joined her on the couch a second later.

"I think it's from my past, but I can't be for sure," she muttered. "I am sure of one thing." She looked at him. "The fear. I can feel it clawing at me, griping me so hard that I find it so hard to breath."

"When d- You remembered this days ago." Sam nodded. She could tell that the halfa was upset with her hiding it, but she hadn't been super sure, but with all the visions entering her mind, the same thing over and over, she grew more sure that she was being hunted. That was what it truly was, because she could feel it. The feeling of someone so close to her and yet she never saw them. That was what hunters did. They watched and strategized how they would get their prey and while most of the time the prey had no idea, there was always that feeling in the back of your mind. Some people failed to listen to it, but Sam wasn't one of those people. "What do you remember?"

"I can see a pair of people, a male and a female, both older than me. They are both well to do, their appearance wealthy with the jewels and the cloths that they wear. The male has blue eyes and blond hair while the woman is a red head with teal eyes."

"Like my sister," Danny said, the pieces starting to come together.

"Yeah, like Jazz, but this woman seems to hate me. Don't ask me why, but she does. The guy looks at me with indifference. I don't think that he hates me, per say, but I am sure that the woman does." Sighing she told him the part that bothered her the most. "She accuses me of something having to do with her husband, and she has a broken bottle neck in her hand." A shudder ripples through Sam as the hair on her neck stands on end. "She wants to kill me... and then these last few weeks I have been feeling like someone is watching me."

"But Sam, everyone has been watching you." She shook her head.

"While that's true, this gaze comes at the weirdest times, like when we are walking home or to school. It comes when I am in the hall, and there is no other student save for you or Tucker. Danny, I can't explain it, but I am sure that someone is watching me." Danny looked deep into her eyes, the fear that reflected back at him was strong. Sam was truly scared. He wasn't sure if she was telling him the truth, but for now he would humor her. Little did he know that she would need his protection.

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A day later Sam sat between the pair of males' desks, the pair of teens that she had come to know as friends and more than that as they were her life at the moment, her lifelines. Danny excused himself to go the restroom, his lips falling on her own by instinct drilled into him over the weeks and she accepted, the instinct drilled into her. He had become more comfortable with them kissing, and had even initiated it on his own a few hours into their first day. As she threw him a smile the pair watched the male go.

"So how long are you going to date each other?" Tucker inquired as he sat on the other side of Sam in the first class after lunch. "I thought that if she really wanted him, she would have made her move on him." Sam smiled, her smile wavering slightly.

"She has made her move, more than once in fact. He spurned her for the sake of making the relationship look more realistic, but she will have her chance soon enough." Tucker's right brow rose in confusion.

"Aren't you upset?" The Goth looked at him in confusion. "That she would do that when you two are dating?"

"Why would I be upset? This is a fake relationship." The techno-geek gave her a look of skepticism, the look telling her he didn't believe her. "Seriously, you are taking this somewhere it didn't even go."

"So all the kissing and hand holding..." he faded off to let her work that out. While they had been dating for a while now, she hadn't realized that something had changed between the pair. There was more comfort, but she had just assumed that it was from the routine that had begun to take place between the pair. Living with Danny, and then going to school with him, they were almost always together. At some point you had to grow close to someone that you spent all the time with.

'Shit! Am I falling for someone who I am helping get another girl?' Shaking her head she tried to dispel that thought. She didn't love Danny! That was crazy talk. Before she could answer Danny took a seat next to her, while Tucker looked to her with questioning teal eyes. Before Danny could say a thing to her she turned on him, her eyes flashing.

"Danny, I know that you want to break up with me," she stated to the shock of everyone, including the halfa sitting before her. He frowned at her in confusion, but Sam stood up, the action forcing Lancer to stop in the middle of his lecture. The teacher opened his mouth to tell her to be silent, only to be silenced himself as her hand flew up. "If you want to break up you should have done it instead of just dragging me along for the ride!" She stepped back, as she glared at the halfa. "I shouldn't have had to hear about you and Paulina through the damn grapevine! How fair is it to me when you use me, and then to make it worse, trash me behind my back!"

"S-Sam, I don-" the halfa began as he stood up. Sam shoved him back in his chair.

"Don't pretend that you don't know what I am talking about! We are through!" Turning her back on him she stomped off. As soon as the door slammed Danny found all eyes on him, looks of shock at their break up. Paulina smiled from her desk on his left side and the halfa found that he was still watching the door that Sam had just exited.

"What the fuck just happened?" the halfa muttered, looking to a very shocked Tucker. The techno geek had not even known she was going to do that! She had talked about breaking up with him, but had thought that she was all talk and no action. In fact he had thought she liked Danny more than she was letting on.

"I think she just broke up with you," the techno-geek stated. "You did want that, right?" Danny nodded, but in his heart he felt a pain at the loss, while a Hispanic teen smiled at his side. He had wanted that, but now he wasn't so sure.

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Sam didn't leave the grounds, the fear of someone sill following her, grounding her to the building. She headed down the halls of the school, the library where she sat and waited for the bell to ring. She knew that Danny was in shock, but what had shocked her had been the pain in her chest as she had broken it off with the halfa. Tucker had been right about them staying together for so long. She should have broken it off with him so much sooner, but somehow she had never been able to. Maybe it had been the affection or the fact that she liked the attention he gave her, but whatever it had been she had enjoyed it. Shaking her head she laid said head on the table as she allowed her eyes to drift shut.

'Whatever, it was it is over.'

"You are so w-wort- so fucking worthless!" a red head screamed angrily as she shook the bottle at her. In truth her mother had become worse over the last ten years with her drinking and smoking, the house a wreck from the lack of care. The adult looking at her had also seen better days. Around her she found bottles that littered the ground around her feet, some with liquid in them others drank dry.

A whimper escaped Sam's lips as she felt disgust at the appearance of the woman in her dream.

"S-Samantha-a, you make me want to just strangle you every time I se-ee you," she slurred out before taking another swig. "You are the spitting image of Tyson, the bastard," she spat before throwing the bottle on the ground, the glass shards flying everywhere. Sam felt the shards of glass hit her legs, while others fell under the other female. "I guess that makes-s you a bastard's child and a b-bastard child too," the older woman said with a dry chuckle. "Because of you my hu-usband le-eft me!"

Samantha? Was that her name?

She watched as the woman she called mom reach down to grab the neck of the bottle before looking at her, the raven haired girl standing before her in total fear. The fear that Sam felt was so strong...

Sam sat up with a scream tearing from her throat, the sound echoing around the large room. The librarian rushed to her side as sweat rolled down Sam's face, mixing with tears that fell down her cheeks. Her eyes were glazed with sleep and fear.

Was that her mother? Was her mother trying to kill her? Something told her that was the mystery surrounding her. She had run from home because her mother had cracked and was after her!

"Are you okay, dear?" the older woman questioned as the other woman took in her pale coloring. Sam blinked as her mind cleared. Looking to the woman at her side she nodded. "Are you sure, you look a little pale."

"Just a nightmare." After assuring the librarian that she was fine she got up, her eyes landing on the clock above the library doors. It's already three? Walking out of the library, she headed for the front door to find a car that looked out of place in the nice streets of Amity. In the driver's seat was a shadow that seemed to be watching the doors. Backing up Sam found herself back in the school. What was she going to do? Who was that?

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As the male teens walked down the street toward Danny's house the techno-geek stopped, his eyes growing wide at the picture on his screen. At first the halfa didn't notice until he realized he couldn't hear the sounds of Tucker's PDA. Looking back he found the other teen still standing there in the middle of the street, cars passing him while his teal eyes grew wider as he scrolled down. Waiting as the teen continued to scroll, his finger stopping only to read more. Around them the sun sank lower as the wind blew around them.

"Come on, Tucker!" Danny called, but the geek shook his head as he continued to scroll. What is he looking at? Walking back toward the other male he found Tucker reading something on his Facebook page. "What is so important that it couldn't wait un-" He stopped when Tucker flipped back up to the picture of a girl that resembled Sam. "What the hell?" Snatching the PDA he looked closer at the image of a girl with a sad look reflecting in her large eyes. The girl in the image was so much younger than the one that they had found, but it had to be her, those eyes that looked back at him were her own amethyst orbs. This Sam looked beaten, her eyes like saucers, but the image was only of her upper body, the small bruises on her face making her pale skin seem paler.

"Is that Sam?" Danny nodded. Scrolling down he found his mouth falling open.

This is Samantha Alexandra Manson at the age of ten. She was last seen at her mother's house several weeks ago. She has since gone missing, her mother's car gone from the front of the residence. Her ex-husband, Thurston Manson, is looking for both females after receiving a call from a neighbor that heard yelling from the residence weeks earlier and has heard nothing since then. There is suspected foul play, as the are reports of the young girl showing up in the hospital several times in the past with bruises and broken bones. There were no charges brought against the single mother, but now that they are missing people are beginning to speculate whether the mother killed the small girl and has fled the state. Others report seeing the young girl fleeing from her house after the reported shouting. Sam is now seventeen years of age. There are no current photos of the teen. If you see her please notify the police.

Danny looked to Tucker. "When did this-"

"Just now." Tucker took the PDA back, his fingers beginning to type on the small handheld device. "One of my facebook buddies forwarded it since they live in the area where this happened." The halfa frowned as he thought back to what Sam had confided in him. The fear that had been in those eyes was evident in the eyes of the ten year old girl. The Goth had been right and she was in danger. "There has to be more on this and we need to find it." He looked up to find his half ghost friend spacing out. "Dude, you okay?"

I don't know who I am, I can see images and not a single one of them is good... And I think that someone tried to kill me.

"She told me that she was being watched, but I blew her off." Tucker said nothing, but the look in his eyes was of confusion. Placing his arm on the shoulder of the male next to him, he waited because he could feel that there was more to this then just that one sentence. "I thought that she was just being a little strange and with all the attention from us dating, that maybe she thought she was being watched."

"Dude, you can't beat yourself up about this. Not like we had any proof." Danny grabbed Tucker by the front of his shirt, his cerulean eyes flashing green. He had known and even without proof he still should have kept a better eye on her!

I have been feeling like someone is watching me...this gaze comes at the weirdest times... walking home or to school... in the hall and there is no other student...

"She told me that when she felt that feeling of being followed it was in the school!" Releasing Tucker he rushed back toward the school just as a really slow driving car passed them.

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Sam knew that Danny had long since left and she knew that she couldn't stay in the building forever, that just wasn't going to happen, but she didn't want to leave the safety of the school grounds either. Sending a quick prayer to the heaven she looked out again to find that the car was gone.

"Thank God!" She took a step out of the building to hear someone calling her name. Her first instinct was to back up toward the school as she looked around.

"Sam!" It hit her that it was Danny that was calling her, so stepping back out she rushed at him, her relief at seeing it was just him so strong. Rushing out into the street just as Danny reached her, she crushed herself against him as fear made her body shake. "Are you okay?" he questioned. The Goth's brow rose in question when she realized how this must look to him.

"Yeah, just.." she faded off as she heard the sound of tires squealing. Looking up she saw the car from before as it turned a corner and was off. "Was just so glad to see you."

"Sam, we found something that you have to see," the halfa said just seconds before Tucker arrived, "But first we need to get you indoors." The Goth looked to Tucker for an answer, but the geek in question just shook his head. "Come on!" Taking her hand the trio rushed toward his house never seeing the car from before stop at the corner to watch them.

"There she is," a voice said as the shadow leaned forward. "Now how to get to her?"


	8. Chapter 8

A few minutes later found the trio in Fenton Works, in the OP's center with every thing locked down. Tucker had sent the information to Jazz, who was currently at a friend's house for the afternoon.

"What is all this about, Danny?" the raven haired female inquired and yet at the same time she had a feeling that she knew what it was about. It couldn't be because she doesn't know where I am! Danny pulled up the internet on the OP's computer, his fingers typing away until the same image from Tucker's PDA appeared on the screen. Sam's mouth fell open in shock at the image before her. Taking a step closer Danny watched as she reached out to touch the screen. "That's me," she murmured before turning to the males at her side. Her eyes were wide and there were so many emotions swirling in those amethyst depth, but Danny could see it...fear.

"Yeah, it was sent to Tucker by a Facebook friend who lives near where you are." Scrolling down he allowed the screen to fill with the text attached to the photo. Sam moved even closer as her eyes scanned over the text. "Your father is looking for you." Sam shook her head at that as she finished reading the last part.

"Her ex isn't my father," she stated with certainty. Both teen males raised a brow. Leaning over them she began to search for the name of the man looking for her. When the image pulled up it was a picture of both sets of parents and that was when they understood what she had meant. Both parents looked nothing like her. There was no resemblance. "She told me his name, but I just can't remember it."

"Are you saying you remembered something else?" the halfa inquired as the sound of the front door opening reached their ears. Sam nodded as she thought back to the images that had entered her dreams while in the library.

"Danny!" came a voice on the intercom. "Let me in." Turning from her for one second the halfa failed to see the fear flash in her eyes and sadness, but Tucker noticed that she faltered for a second as Jazz was let in the room. "So, we know who she is now?" A nod. "Well, now we can help her. We just have to get a hold of this Thurston guy."

"The guy isn't her father, so he holds no rights over her. She would be turned back over to her mother." The red head looked to Sam for confirmation. The Goth nodded. "Sam has remembered something else and she was just about to tell us." Three pairs of eyes looked to her and somehow Sam felt more fear skitter up her spine. By telling them she was putting them in danger. Her mother was a sick person and if she felt that these three were in anyway a threat to her then she would do them as much harm as she had tried to do to her.

"I-I don't think I should tell you," she muttered. "I don-n't want to talk about it." Turning from them she took a seat in one of the OP's four chairs.

"Sam," Danny said approaching the small raven haired female. "You need to tel-" She lashed out at that moment, her hands flying out to strike at Danny.

"You don't understand!" she cried out as she looked up at them, her eyes full of fear and frustration. "My mother is dangerous and you knowing more isn't going to do any good except put you on her fucking radar! My mother went down hill after he divorced her!" She pointed to the blond male on the screen. "Not that it was his fault. No, my mother just couldn't keep her legs together and slept with a male that wasn't her own husband!" Sam stood now, her story spilling from her lips even though just moments ago she had told them that the shouldn't know it.

"My mother tried to kill me. In fact she beat on me every chance she got for her mistake. I was the mistake and she took it out on me every day!! I went to school for the first few years because Thurston stayed with her, but when it came more and more apparent that I wasn't his child he ordered a DNA test." Looking out the window of the OP's center, the sun setting over the buildings she continued. "When it came back, and it was proven that I wasn't his blood, my mother pulled me from school. After a year of being divorced my mother started losing it. She began to drink and pop pills, but she never laid a hand on me until the divorce actually became finalized. She fought it the whole way, but it was done and there was nothing left for her." A dry chuckle. "Except for me."

"She wanted the money, but since she had broken her prenuptial agreement, the fact that I was a bastard, she lost it all." A whimper escaped Sam's lips as she thought of all the days after that. "There were so many days of lost time after that. The house we lived in was a one bedroom so I had no place to actually hide and since she was always drunk I never could escape her hate."

"Why didn't you run?" Danny whispered. Again she laughed.

"When you run at any age there are always questions. That picture from Facebook is of the first time I managed to get out of the house. I was found rather quickly because of Thurston. He didn't need me in the papers to ruin his reputation, not that it wasn't already there with the divorce, but he didn't want more..." A pause. "They could never actually prove that it was her that put those marks on me, and without proof I was placed back in that house. After trying to escape several more times I was labeled a perpetual runaway."

"That really sucks," Tucker said as the pair looked at the teen who looked ready to puke.

"Yeah, sucked," Sam muttered as sat down again. "I ran from her and this time I managed to succeed only to lose my damn memory!" Turning she let out a frustrated sound. "I hopped on a train and managed to get away, but loosing my memory held me here and now I think she's here." The trio with her looked shocked at that.

"You rode a train from Oklahoma?" Jazz inquired with wide eyes. Sam gave the affirmative, but wouldn't look at them, her hands now held palm up as she looked at them.

"It was the first time she really tried to kill me, the other times she had attempted, but had stopped. This time she looked to me with such hate, such detachment and for the first time I felt real fear, hell the hair on my neck raised that time as I watched her reach for that neck from the bottle she had just smashed on the floor, that she was serious." Danny approached her, his hand falling on her shoulder, the small teen flinching slightly. Her mind was stuck at that time. "There was so much glass on the floor and I turned to move, my foot slipped on the large piece by my side, but I was lucky as I fell on my hands, my mother hit the ground. I remember seeing her after I ran down the street." Silence fell over the room. "I can remember her screams and her promise to get me." She looked at Danny now, her amethyst eyes glittering with fear. "She will find me, but if I leave now then..." she faded off as the halfa looking down at her shook his head.

"Sam, we won't let her get you." The Goth wanted to say 'no', because she knew it was dangerous, but she knew that if she told him that that Danny would fight her tooth and nail, so nodding she allowed him to believe that she would just let him protect her. "You know that we all care about you and would do anything to ensure that you are always safe." Sam felt her eyes watering up, but she refused to let the tears come as she nodded again.

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That night found Danny and Sam laying in his room, her mattress on his floor with his door closed and locked. The Goth was curled on her side, the lights out in the large room with the halfa sitting up playing a video game. He really wanted to stay awake because if her mother had found her, then she had to know where Sam was staying. This was now the time he wished that the house was as protected as the OP's center was, but Sam refused to sleep in the OP's.

'Not a good idea. How was that not a good idea?' He looked at her now, the small teen given a sleep aid in her drink so that she could sleep. Because now that Danny knew why she was loosing weight and coloring he knew what he had to do. She would be pissed when she did figure it out, but as long as Tucker and Jazz kept that information to themselves, it was less likely she would find out. I just can't believe that she lived through all that and is as normal as she is. Most kids who go something just as traumatizing come out so screwed up, but Sam, Sam weathered it all and is still able to be herself. The Goth in question let out a small sound as she rolled over, her short shirt rising up to show the halfa her pale stomach and that was when Danny saw it.

"Why didn't I see that before?" he questioned aloud as he moved down to the floor, his eyes finding a scar on the right side of her body. It looked like nail marks that were positioned as if the person holding her had grabbed her as Sam was facing them, before either Sam had moved away from them or they had tried to drag her, either way it made his blood boil. Lifting the other side of her shirt, he found more marks, and he found his eyes flashing green in anger at the thought of the pain she had gone through. The fact that there were marks on her skin was testament enough to the halfa that she had been in danger for far too long.

"No," came a small moan from the Goth as she began to fight, her fists coming up to smack him in the face as she tried to move away from what she was fighting in her dreams. Danny was thrown back, her small fists still working to rid herself of some demon that haunted her. Danny moved back more, until she started to cry, his heart hurting from the sound that escaped her lips as tears ran down her face. "Don't do it! Let me go!" The halfa leaned toward her, and avoiding her flailing fists, hugged her tightly to him. At first she fought him, her body shaking as fear took over her, but as the halfa held her, his breathing even and strong, the small female began to relax, his name on her lips as she sighed. It shocked him that she knew it was him, but then he shook it off. She didn't know it was him, she was just picking up on the fact that he had rescued her and was probably going back to that secure feeling. "Danny," she murmured as those fists that had just been fighting him curled around him, her small face nudging the space between the neck and shoulder, her breathing causing the halfa holding her to break out in goosebumps as she curled her body around his.

'What the hell?' It was strange, but for some reason Danny found that having her in his arms like that made him super comfortable. The stress that he had been feeling, gone with her snuggling form close to him. It felt so right to him, for her to be in his arms like they were at that moment. The halfa felt his lids closing now, the feeling of relaxation falling over his body as he laid down next to her, the small body holding his moving to get comfortable again as the pair fell asleep.

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The sun filled the room, a beam hitting the halfa sleeping on the mattress in front of his bed, the sheets rumpled around him as he stretched to cover his eyes from the bright rays. Danny opened his cerulean orbs, his vision blurry as he looked around his room, a feeling that something was off waking him, he was sure that was why. Looking to his side he found Sam gone, the door to his room open. His body wanted to go back to sleep, his eyes closing as sleep tried to drag him back down, but he startled himself awake, his feet sliding as he struggled to get to the door. As he finally flew out of his room, his hair flying in all directions, he grasped the rails of the small balcony that overlooked the living room.

"Sam!" he called out as he looked down, but in his heart he knew she was gone. "Sam!" Jazz appeared from her room at that moment, her eyes glazed with sleep as she rubbed at one of her eyes. If he had to admit it, that was one of the real reasons he had locked her in his room, because he had a feeling she was going to make a run for it. Damn it! Shouldn't have let myself fall asleep! He could beat himself over that, but he hadn't known that just trying to comfort her would end up relaxing him like that.

"What is going on?" At the look on Danny's face the red head's eyes grew huge as she figured it out. "She left?" The halfa said nothing as he transformed before phasing out of the house and to the skies. Jazz disappeared a few moments later into the OP's center, Danny appearing before her as he floated above the city.

Becoming visible again he hovered over his city, his green eyes looking for the missing teen. Flying low he searched for her, the darkness gone and the sun out shinning strongly. As he flew over Tucker's house he found the geek out and about and then it hit him.

"Shit! School!" he muttered, but he wasn't going to go because he had to find the missing Goth first, her safety more important than attending Casper at the moment. Diving down he stopped before Tucker, the geek falling back in shock as he held his chest. Before he could say anything Danny gasped out, "She's gone! Sam ran away!"

"Dude, why would she run away? She might have just gone on to school." The halfa shook his head in frustration. Around them cars drove past, but there was one that was parked at the corner, the shadow in it watching the teens with interest, their eyes narrowing at the males arguing.

"She wouldn't walk by herself! She was afraid and she ran!" Danny felt it in his bones, but what time had she left? If she had left super early then she would be long gone, but if she had left late then he would be able to track her easily because no matter what he was going to find that Goth and get her to safety.

This girl is on fire!

This girl is on fire!

She's walking on fire!

Reaching down he pulled out his phone at the sound of his sister's ring tone. "Hello?" Tucker waited while the siblings conversed, but he really didn't believe that Sam would run. That would put her in far more trouble, though when he thought about the fear that had been on her face in those moments that Danny's face had been turned... "What time?" More talking. "What was she wearing?" More talking. "Okay, thanks." Closing the phone he looked to Tucker. "She left like thirty minutes ago wearing a pair of my jeans and a white shirt with a cap pulled over her head."

"Definitely didn't go to school then," the technophile stated. "She was dressed in disguise, but where would she go?" That's when it hit them.

"The train!" As they made a move to rush forward the car that had been watching them started up before speeding toward them, the pair of males looking toward it as it came at them while driving at full speed.

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Sam rushed down the street, trying to keep her head down so no one could see her face. She didn't want anyone to see her at this point, because she was sure that she was being followed by the car she had seen at the school. She refused to look back at the car that was keeping a slow pace at the moment, and yet she needed to keep an eye on it because she was sure that the person behind it was looking for an opening. She had seen it outside the house this morning and deciding at that moment to protect the occupants of the house she stole some of Danny's clothing before heading out. She wanted to fool the car, but at the same time she needed to be able to move around without being bothered. Most people knew Danny, but not very many of them sat and conversed with him either, so she thought it safe to go out like him.

I just hope that he oversleeps and I manage to get out before he realizes what time I left! She could have smacked herself for what she had done this morning of all mornings! She had intended to stay awake, but knowing the halfa she figured he was going to follow suit. Laying down she had found sleep creeping in rather fast and at first she had felt a slight panic, but as it claimed her she found that it felt good, a smell reaching her and relaxing her. And then those nightmares! Her mind had come after her with a vengeance with all the memories of her life, the things she had suppressed on her own... As she had felt those nails in her flesh she had fought, only to find a warmth enclosing around her and at once she had known it was the halfa she had been staying with. Thinking that her dreams were giving her a release she had pulled the halfa close to her, his smell invading her senses and allowing her to pass out, only to wake up and find herself cuddling the halfa.

'I can't believe that he was holding me! What was he thinking? Hell, what the fuck was I thinking?' She hadn't known, and had she been aware that she was holding the raven haired ghost fighter, she would have thrown him off sooner, as it was she untangled him from her before hearing the car outside the window. Most people would have written it off, but not Sam because it could be an issue. Looking at the clock she almost smacked herself, but ignoring it she looked out the window, making sure not to allow herself to be seen and she was right! It was the car, so looking back at the halfa she had made that choice, the choice to protect the one that had protected her. Getting his clothing she had left, her long hair chopped off to allow her to be more concealed.

Crossing at an intersection she didn't realize that she was by herself until she heard the squeal of tires. Looking up she found her eyes locked with a pair of teal ones, death staring her in the face and yet she couldn't make herself move as the car bore down on her.

"Sam!"


	9. Chapter 9

Sam turned, the first car still coming at her while Danny hung out of another one, screaming, as it came toward her. The halfa leaned further out of the passenger side door, his hands grasping for Sam at the same time that Tucker was holding onto the halfa's legs to keep him anchored while the driver swerved to allow the younger male to grab Sam around the waist. Pulling her toward him with Tucker helping to pull them into the car, they watched as the other vehicle slammed on their brakes before looking at them through the windshield with anger in a pair of teal eyes.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief as she was fell back into Danny's lap, the teen grateful that he had shown up at that moment and yet at the same time she was concerned. The three males in the car also breathed in relief. Looking around she found that there was one unfamiliar and yet familiar face staring back at her from the driver's seat.

"W-Who are you?" she managed to stutter out, her amethyst eyes wide at the darker amethyst orbs staring back at her. The male smiled, his spiked raven hair drawing her attention as well since it looked like her own. "Are you-" She couldn't even complete the sentence, the shock she was feeling while looking at the male, that now turned his eyes back to the road.

"Yes, Sam, I am your father," he stated rather calmly and yet you could hear the awe in his own voice.

At that moment Sam's eyes darkened, her lips thinned and without warning she screamed out, "Stop this car!" It had taken her moment to get her bearings on what was happening, and even with the fact that her mother was still in the city, she found that she wanted nothing to do with the man who had left her with said woman. When he didn't immediately stop she made a grab for the door handle as anger took over and frustration.

"Sam, you need to calm down," Danny stated as he pulled her back into his lap before she could even grasp the knob of the speeding car. "First off, we are in a moving car and second, your dad wasn't even aware of your existence until that facebook thing came out." That seemed to stop her cold, her body stiffening in his lap, but she still refused to look at the male at her side. At that moment the car was hit from behind and everyone turned to see Pamela, her eyes glaring at them from behind the wheel of the beat down car that she was driving. Revving up again she rammed them once more.

"Why did you get with a crazy woman like that?!" Tucker cried from the back seat as Tyson sped up. The driver chuckled uncomfortably drawing the attention of the Goth and halfa. Tucker couldn't force his eyes from the crazy woman speeding to catch up to them as Tyson made a turn to get on the highway. Everyone in the car shifted with the car as Tyson began to tell his story.

"Um, I was actually pretty wasted when Pamela hit on me and at that time she didn't introduce herself by that name. I believe she called herself Starla or something." Silence. "Anyway, I was at a hotel, my fiancée having left me at the alter just hours before, drinking with a few of my buddies when she walked in." He winced as he looked to Sam. "I am sure that you remember your mother different than she is now."

"Yeah," she muttered.

"Well, she came in with little in the way of clothing, no way I could have seen just by looking at her that she came from money, and she wasn't wearing a wedding ring, but judging by those posts on Facebook she had been married for a while." He shook his head. "No excuse, but I did ask her if she had a man and she told me no so I hit on her and bought her drinks, shots mostly since she told me she liked her drinks straight. Hell, I was just over the limit when she came in, so I was beyond it when she took my hand and led me to what I thought was her room."

"She was there with her husband," Sam stated in shock. How had Thurston not seen her out like that?

"It didn't register to me until later that night when I saw all the stuff that obviously belonged to a male, but no one showed up at ten that night when I left, so I didn't really understand. I honestly thought your mother was a cross-dresser or something because the next day when I saw her again she was still alone and I, by the way, steered clear of her after that one night." Sam said nothing to this, instead she seemed to be thinking it over. I would make sense since Thurston was always busy. That was one thing she remembered about the male that had left her mother. He cared more about his image, and now that it was out that his ex was crazy and bent on killing her child, that was bad for him. Hell, the man hadn't even married to her knowledge.

"I guess that she never told you she was pregnant or even tried to find you, huh?" Tyson nodded. "Thurston kept my name and photos out of the media since I was a bastard child and all." Silence until Pamela managed to catch up and ram them again throwing Sam toward the window, but Danny held on tight so she only moved a few inches. "Okay, so let's get away from her again because I think she intends to kill all of us now!" Her father nodded as he pushed the sports car to over a hundred, the pair of cars swerving around others as the chase continued.

"Okay, so Jazz has called the cops and has informed them of what is going on so we should be-" he was cut off as the sounds of sirens joined the chase, as well as the sound of blades. Sam and Danny leaned out to see the chopper flying above them.

"Great," Sam muttered. Tucker leaned forward to turn on the radio, the rock blasting through the speakers blowing all the teens back. Tyson quickly turned it down as he swerved to miss another car. As Tucker changed the station the sound of the helicopter above them grew louder.

-Hi this is Tiffany Snow with Lance Thunder high here about the car chase that is now taking place on our highways in Amity Park. News is that the first car, a black sports car, is driven by Tyson Suppamon, a millionaire in his own right with his ancestor's invention of the flavored condoms that has made oral all that much enjoyable. Thanks Tyson! Also it seems that there are three teens in the car with him, one of which is his daughter, Samantha Manson and two of our own locals Tucker Foley and Daniel Fenton.

-That's right and in the car behind them is Pamela Manson, the ex-wife of Thurston Manson whose ancestor invented the machine that wraps the deli toothpicks! Wow, we have quiet an interesting group of people in Amity today!

-Not that a car chase is the best thing in the world, Lance.

-No, I agree, Tiffany, but as to what the chase is about is much worse. It seems that Samantha is running from her mother on the grounds that her mother wants to kill her and has a attempted to do so today!

"Please turn that off," Sam muttered. "I don't think that this is going to help matters."

"I am going to kill you!" came the sound of Pamela's voice as she leaned out of her car, her fist punching the air. Car horns honked at her as several cars barely managed to miss her. "All of you are DEAD!" Sam stuck her head out of the window, her brows knitted.

"Leave them out of this, mother! The only one you want to kill is ME!" Now she turned to Danny. "I can't put you guys in this, so you need to let me out or you know what you could d-" Danny pulled her close, his lips falling over hers to the shock of all save for the halfa doing it. Seconds passed and he still didn't release her, not that the Goth in question was doing much protesting. When he pulled back Sam was so flustered that she didn't know what to say when he spoke.

"I will never let you take on that crazy woman and I doubt that anyone in this car is willing to do that either."

"But-" Another lip lock silenced that protest. "Okay, if you keep doing that I might continue to protest." There was a smile on her face and yet there was confusion swirling in her amethyst orbs.

"Now, I have an idea, but you all are going to have to trust me and keep on going." The all looked to him in shock and almost protested, but Sam nodded. The halfa went intangible, Sam dropping to the seat as he flew out of the car and toward Pamela's car. As he hit the engine he powered up, his energy crackling around him like electricity.

"What the fuck!?" the red head behind the wheel screeched as the engine blew up, smoke blocking her vision, sending her car into several 180's with the lack of control since she had been going over 100 mph when the engine had died. Danny floated in the middle of the lane watching her spin out of control and even though he was a good guy he didn't step into help her, she was after all after Sam. With a crash she hit the highway's dividers, the hard concrete stones totaling her beat up old car. Danny turned and flew back to the car that held the female that he loved. Landing in the back seat he found himself under a dog pile.

"Thank god!" Sam cried at the same time as Tucker, the pair squeezing the halfa. Sam was concerned though, because her mother always managed to escape and a few moments later it was confirmed that there was no body found in the wreckage of the other car.

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A few hours later found Sam sitting with her father in Amity Park, her eyes downcast, as she wondered if it could have all been avoided if her father had been aware that he had fathered a child.

"Yeah, I am sure it could have," Tyson stated. "I may not have been married or anything, but I would have taken you in a heartbeat." The Goth looked up at him in shock. "I wanted children and when my fiancée stepped away from the marriage I still found that I wanted a child even if I didn't have a wife."

"Why didn't you adopt?" Her father let out a dry chuckle.

"Sam, I am a single man with a failed attempt at marriage. Not very many courts look too favorable to that, and the fact that I own my own job they figured I worked too many hours for a child." The Goth at his side looked thoughtful because she knew if it had been Thurston the blond would have paid for a black market adoption, but this man had refused to go that way even when denied.

"You're a good man and I think that you will find that lucky woman who will give you that baby," Sam stated. Tyson looked to her and smiled too.

"Sam, as you are still a year from being legally able to live on your own, would you like to live with me?" Sam was shocked. That was the last thing she had expected, but looking at her options she found she was alone. There was no way she would ever go back with her mother, not that the law would let her and Thurston was never a choice. All that left was Tyson and Danny. Danny didn't need her here, not with all that was going on in his life so that left Tyson.

"That sounds like a plan," she said with a smile. "I would be able to get to know you and you me." Hugging her, to the shock of the small teen, he promised her that she would have a great time.


	10. Chapter 10

Sam knew that her father lived far away and that by agreeing to live with him that she would be moving away from Amity. Her problem was that she had no idea how, or if, she was going to tell the guys. Hell, she wasn't sure what they expected of her at this point, especially since her mother was still on the loose. While her father checked her into a suite next to his, Sam headed toward his room. Taking the key he had given her she went in to turn to the TV, hoping that some show would grab her attention and distract her. As she lay there on her father's bed she thought of all the time she had spent with Danny and Tucker, the pair becoming her guardian angels when they could have left her for dead.

'What am I going to do now? I mean, sure, I am going to go live with my father in God knows where, but how do I tell them? Do I tell them?' Click. Sam's eyes shot up toward the door as her father entered, but he wasn't alone, a gun was pointed to his back as Pamela entered behind him. As soon as the older woman's teal eyes met Sam's the Goth knew she was in trouble.

"Now, Pamela, you know that you don't need to do this," Tyson stated, his body stiff as he tried to avoid touching the gun that was practically stuck in his spine. "I can give you money and you can leave us alone." Sam knew that would appeal to her mother, but at the same time she wasn't sure it was going to do much good with her mother right now. Hell, she could smell the booze coming off of the red head, and while her mother looked like she had been in a car wreak, the older woman still managed to have a great grip. Her mother was like that. So used to drinking that even being drunk was never enough. That was usually when her mother would get something to smoke, but her mother was out of luck and so were they. If she had something else in her system then they might be able to overpower her.

"Shut up," the red head muttered as she shoved the gun further into Tyson's back. "For someone who makes condoms you did a horrible job of putting it on!" The dark haired man's eyes darkened in anger.

"We didn't use one because you said that you were on the pill, remember?" The Goth sitting on the bed had no idea what to do as both adults were pissed off, her mother had a gun in her father's back and would soon kill them both. Sam was sure about that. "Hell, you didn't tell me you were married either!" Pamela smirked.

"Oh, that," she stated as she shoved him toward Sam, Tyson falling on the bed next to Sam, his amethyst eyes shooting back a glare at the obviously drunk woman. "I married for money and status. Fuck, he wanted me for my body and for nothing more, but I told him that he couldn't fuck this without a ring on my finger." Sam remembered vaguely hearing the pair talk about how they had gotten together and from Thurston had said it had gone down just as her mother was saying.

Thurston had lost his fiancée a year before meeting Pamela, and just wanting a good lay had tried to get her, but the woman that Pamela had been and still was, trapped him. Told him he could have her, but he had to marry her. The man had wanted to walk away, but for some reason he wasn't able to tell her 'no' and married her. The plan had been that she was to provide him with an heir. Years later found no child, but the blond male had been sure that he was virile, so calling a doctor had the pair of them tested. Both had been found to have plenty of the means, but there had yet to be a child. "Mother fucker couldn't get me pregnant and was beginning to grow outraged. He claimed it was my fault and he was right. I was taking the pill to keep the fun going, but when he started to threaten divorce, hell I stopped taking the pill and we still never got pregnant."

"That's why you were at that hotel," Tyson said as his mind finally clicked all the pieces. "You were there for that convention." Pamela sneered with a shake of her head.

"No, he was there for that damn thing, but I didn't want to go through that humiliation. No, I didn't even want a child." Pulling a flask out of her pocket, she took another swig of whatever was stinking the room up. "I went looking for a candidate, but I was looking for a blond to match the coloring." Tyson's brows rose as did Sam's. That made no sense. If she had been looking to make the child more like the father and mother then she had made a grave error that night.

"Why me?" The Goth next to him wanted to know the same thing, but at the same time she was looking for a way out. Glancing at her father out of the corner of her eye she noticed that he was curious, but at the same time he was looking around the same area that Sam was. It seemed that both father and daughter were trying to find a way to get out. "I don't fit any part of that." Pamela smirked, her hand holding gun waving around.

"Oh, that was because I had just got done doing the deed. You were-" she stopped, her face thoughtful. "You were dessert after a particularly nasty meal." Holding the gun out again she narrowed her gaze. "Enough chit chat! Time for someone to die."

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Danny headed back out an hour later, his eyes ever vigilant for any ghosts haunting the streets. While his eyes worked to spot any stray ghosts, his mind went over the last few weeks with Sam. He was still beating himself up over the fact that the small Goth had been right, her fear had been real and he had knocked it away like some fly swatter hitting a bug.

'Damn! I should have thought about that! Thank god her father was there...' Then it seemed to hit him that with the small Goth's lost father found, that meant that either Sam went with him or she was put into the foster system. She wouldn't even be in Amity! Stopping his search for the renegade ghosts he began to search for the hotel that Sam would be staying it. Hell, there was only two in the city and judging by Tyson's clothing he wouldn't be in the lower end one, no, that man gave off money all the way. As he drew closer to the hotel he couldn't help but notice a familiar car in the parking lot that brought a smile to his face. "There she is!"

Since Danny was part ghost he figured it would be easy to just fly through the building to find his friend, that was until the first room he encountered was filled with naked people having sex. Blushing he quickly flew back out and headed for the entrance to the hotel.

Maybe that wasn't the best choice. Shuddering he knew he would remember the adults having sex in that room for the rest of his life. I might need to look through the computer. As he entered the hotel he found calamity in the lobby as several people crowded around the check in desk. "Now what is going on here?"

"We heard the gunshots in that room!" one woman exclaimed in frustration, a tinge of fear in her tone. As the person behind the desk took care of the crowd, another one of the staff was on the phone talking to 9-1-1. It was then that he heard another person talking quietly.

"It was a young male in that room," stated the older woman, her eyes sad as she continued, "He was so nice, said he was here to find his daughter."

"Really?" As the other woman nodded Danny rushed off toward the stairs, his green eyes vigilant as he looked around him. It only took him going through three floors to find them, the sound of Pamela hollering echoing down the hall toward him. Creeping toward the white door of the suite Danny heard more sounds of a very drunk woman talking quite lucid for a woman that sounded drunk.

"I was quite surprised, I'll tell you that now, when the child that I gave birth to had dark hair and those eyes." Danny phased through the wall to find Sam and Tyson sitting on a bed, blood on the ground around them, but the halfa couldn't see who was shot. "It was like having a mini you staring at me all the time, and believe me your daughter was just as pissed as you are now." She waved the gun around again, the muzzle almost hitting the invisible ghost boy. "She gave me hell from day one."

"You deserved it," Sam spat, her fear gone, but as she said it Danny noticed a bit of blood on the side of her mouth. Pamela frowned at her daughter, the one that she had shot just moments before for her words of hate. "You deserve more than that! I hope you rot!" The red head aimed the gun at the small girl in warning, but Sam didn't shut up. "You got away with what you did for years!"

"You should have died! I wanted you to die because then-n he would have come back!" the enraged red head screamed, her flask dropping from her fingers as she stomped over to her daughter, the still hot muzzle thrust into the raven haired child's face. Sam refused to budge, her eyes drilling into Pamela's teal ones. Tyson tried to beg with her, his body moving between the two females as Danny moved to invade the red headed drunk. Taking her over was harder though, even with the older woman drunk. As soon as he entered her he was bombarded with so much hate that it seemed to burn his skin. It was at that time that Tyson jumped forward as the woman began to react to being taken over, her gangly form twisting as she let out a deafening scream.

"Get back!" the older male yelled, his tone angry as he continued to block his child from what he thought was a potential danger. Sam watched as her mother writhed and twisted, her eyes flashing green for a split second. When Pamela straightened up, she seemed to sober up.

"It's okay," the woman said, her voice slightly different. "For now, but I don't know for how long I can hold this." Tyson raised the gun toward the woman in question's head. "Really, you don't have to worry, but you need to leave." The older male still looked like he wanted to kill the woman before him, but the next words from Sam's mouth stopped him.

"Danny?" she questioned as she stepped toward him.


	11. Chapter 11

The halfa in question nodded, but again he told her to leave, his hold on the drunk redhead wavering with every second he was in her. Tyson grabbed Sam's arm and pulled her out of the room just as Danny was thrown from the rather irate woman, but with no gun in her hands to strike him with she was left with her hand. Punching the halfa she was shocked when her hand went through him.

"What are you?" she growled as she went to punch him again, the same thing happening. "I don't have time for you!" she screamed in anger as she took off after Sam and Tyson, who were already out of the hotel and halfway across the parking lot. Waving down a cab that just happened to be driving by, they hopped in before Tyson gave him directions to head toward the airport.

"Danny," Sam murmured as they drove off. Is he okay? Looking back she could see her mother just now rushing out of the hotel, but the front of the hotel was now surrounded by police officers, their lights shimmering in the distance as they grew further and further away. Sighing, she turned back around as they got onto the highway.

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Danny flew out after the older woman only to find that she was now stalled right outside the large hotel, her eyes wide with craziness glittering in them. Danny needed to make sure that she was captured and yet at the same time he needed to get to Sam. He had come here to talk to her, to see her before she left, but what had he even planned on telling her?

'That you love her and that she can't leave!' That made him blink in confusion. What had that been?' It's your heart! You've ignored me for a while now and I have had enough!' My heart? Seriously? Then it really hit him. Love? Did he love her? Hell, could you fall in love with someone that quick? As the cops below him began to make their move he was drawn back into reality.

"GET BACK!" Pamela screamed as she squared off with the several officers blocking her way, the door behind him slammed, the sound of a lock going into place echoing around them. The redhead turned around, her eyes noticing the door that was now shut and the fact that she was trapped finally hit her. That was when she made her decision, Danny could see it in the way her stance changed and the officers could see it in the way that she eyed them now, her teal eyes shuttered. Slamming her hand into her pocket she shoved it forward, the appearance of a gun molding against her clothing.

"She's armed!" someone inside the hotel screamed. Danny remembered the blood, but in his mind he still couldn't remember seeing either family member bleeding. There had been some blood on Sam's mouth, but none on her body.

"We heard the shots!" someone else screamed. The halfa watched, unable to stop what happened as Pamela ran out toward the cops, her words of death reverberating in his ears as the shots filled the air. Pamela was hit several times over, the dust in the air like a mist of death, the redhead's blood splattering the front of the hotel's entrance as screams were heard from within the building. When the shots died and the red headed woman lay dead on the ground Danny left. He needed to find her and he still wasn't even sure how the pair had gotten away. Flying up high he noticed a cab turning into the airport and somehow he had a feeling that was them, the taxi moving faster than any of the other vehicles.

There she goes

There she goes again

Taking off he headed toward the airport in the distance, his goal that of getting the teen he had strong feelings for. He just had to beat that cab.

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At the same time that he was dive bombing the yellow cab Sam was in the airport, her injury still slightly masked from view. Her father wasn't even aware that she had taken the hit. It was just on her side, but it was enough that she spit up some blood, but she didn't think it had hit anything too important. All she wanted to do was get out of here, her heart was aching and tears were threatening to spill.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" someone inquired. Tyson looked to find his daughter looking at an older woman, the lady pointing to the floor. At that moment Sam found she couldn't hear a word they were saying, her face feeling colder as the ground flew up to meet her.

Racing thru' my brain

And I just can't contain

"I need a doctor!" Tyson screamed, his fear mingling with confusion as he held his child close to him. Her eyes were still open, a bit glazed now, but she was watching him. "Sam, why?" She smiled.

"I didn't think it was super serious because she just grazed me, but I guess it was more th-" she stopped as a pain shot through her and that was when warmth flowed over Tyson. The dark haired male pulled her shirt up, the jacket she had pulled on concealing her wound. She was right that it wasn't super bad, but it was still bleeding. Looking back from where they came he could see the spots of blood. His daughter certainly was a trooper, but she was stubborn too.

"Dear girl, you are so like me in too many ways," he murmured just as someone pushed through the crowd. When he identified himself as a doctor, Tyson moved so that he could still hold her as the doctor looked her over. Sam winced when the man pushed around the wound. "She was shot." The doctor thanked him for his clarification as Tyson explained the whole ordeal. Most weren't surprised when they realized he was the person on the news. As the doctor made a quick call, an ambulance already on the way, he began to explain that although her wound was superficial that it was still rather serious. He would need to stitch her up now so that she wouldn't bleed out right here.

This feelin' that remains

There she blows

"No pain meds, right?" Sam muttered, her voice so soft that almost no one could hear her. The doctor nodded.

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Danny fell upon the cab only to find that it didn't hold Sam, but to his luck the reporter on the radio was talking about her and the fact that the small heir of Tyson was injured and would be transported to the hospital.

-At this time she is at the Amity Airport with a doctor that just happened to be close by.

He is in the process of stitching her up, but she will be taken to a hospital to ensure that all is

good with the small teen. After that, I have been told, that she and her father will be heading out

overseas to one of his houses to allow her to recoup. Our prayers are with this teen and her father.-

That lit a fire under the halfa as he now flew toward the airport, his eyes searching, flickering back and forth, for the sign that she was in that particular area. Just when he thought he had somehow missed her, he saw the crowd that had stopped near a gate for Paris, France. There was the sound of applause just as he parted the crowd to find Sam laying on her back, her skin a pale white. He could tell that the small Goth had passed out early and he nearly did upon seeing the needle with a bloodied end.

"Tyson," he said as he moved to sit next to her father, who looked rather pale himself.

There she blows again

Pulsing thru' my vein

"Danny, right?" The halfa nodded. "She's fine thanks to you." That's when the EMT's showed up, a gurney rolling through the large airport toward the crowd. People began to step back, not that any of them left. Some were still taking pictures, filming or whatever they needed to do to immortalize the moment they had just witnessed. As they loaded her onto the gurney, Danny found he had no words. Sure, he had helped stop her, but he hadn't been there when she needed him.

It was as if the man next to him could read his thoughts as he laid his hand on the halfa's shoulder. "Never underestimate yourself. Sam knows you would have come had she been able to call you, but Pamela came out of nowhere." They rushed behind the staff taking Sam to the hospital, people parting to let them through. They were both allowed to ride with her to the hospital and as the bus took off the pair of them sat there looking down at the teen who had given them so much in so little time. Tyson reached out, his hand clasping Sam's pale one while Danny just looked on. He was so unsure if he should hold her hand even though he wanted to so badly. "Go ahead."

And I just can't contain

This feelin' that remains

Danny looked up at Sam's father in surprise. Again he had read his mind and Danny wasn't sure what was going on. "Don't look so surprised," the older man said. "I am good at reading minds, well, when I'm sober and I can tell that you are in love with her. I can also tell that you want to hold her hand." When at first he hesitated, the older male reached over, forcing Danny to grasp Sam's limp hand. "She deserves happiness."

"But I can't give her that." Tyson narrowed his gaze, his amethyst eyes so like Sam's that Danny was thrown for a second. He could imagine the Gothic teen staring him down. She had done that to him during the courting process for Paulina. 'Shit! Paulina!' "Okay, um, I did forget to mention that I have a girlfriend." Now the man looked a touch pissed.

"So, why did you kiss Sam?"

"What?" The halfa was confused. "I kissed Sam?"

"In the car," Tyson reiterated. "Hmm, must just have been excited. Forget I even said it." The problem was at that moment as the memory came back Danny couldn't forget it. It had been that one moment that had made him wonder if he was with the right person. Was Paulina the one he wanted? Looking down at the teen on the bed before him as they pulled into the hospital he knew the answer.

There she goes, there she goes again

She calls my name, pulls my train

"I need to make a call," the halfa stated as he flew out of the bus, leaving Tyson alone as the door opened and hospital personnel began moving the Goth. Tyson looked down at his daughter as he stepped out from the ambulance.

"I can see that you have found you a good man, well, teen." Walking behind her they headed for the entrance, people moving out of the way.

No-one else could heal my pain

And I just can't contain

This feelin' that remains


	12. Chapter 12

A day later found Sam awake with Tyson sleeping the chair next to the bed. Wiping her eyes she glanced around, her eyes falling on her sleeping father and it all came back. The fact that her mother was still hunting them down and here they were like sitting ducks. Grasping the bar attached to the bed she attempted to pull herself up only to find the world spin around her.

"Ugh," she groaned as she lay back. At the sound of her pain, her father woke up, his amethyst eyes wide with fear, the same fear she had felt upon waking up, but slowly his fear disappeared. "We need to go." He looked to her and shook his head. "Pamela co-"

"No, she's gone."

"What?" Those were the words she had longed to hear for forever and now that they were being uttered she didn't know if she could believe them. Pinching herself she found that she was awake. "She's gone? Really?" He nodded, but the look in his eyes prompted her to ask, "What happened?"

"Police suicide." As much as Sam hated the one that had given birth to her, she was still uncomfortable with that knowledge that her mother had decided dying was better than living. "Probably for the best, because now she is at peace." The Goth nodded. "How are you feeling?" Nice of her father to change the topic.

"A little light headed and some minor discomfort." Tyson smiled.

"You really are like me in so many ways," he stated. That made the Goth happy. There was so much for her to be happy about, yet she still felt that her heart was hurting. Looking down at her hands she could hear the beeping of the machines next to her bed, the heart monitor letting anyone in the room know that she was relaxed while people walked by the open door. Calls from the intercom echoed around her and yet she heard none of it, saw none of it. "He was here."

"Who?" she questioned, though she was sure that he was talking about a particular halfa.

"You know who I am talking about," he stated, his eyes reflecting all the emotions at the moment. "You don't have to come with me. I can wait until you turn of age." Sam shook her head.

"I want to spend time with you, to get to know you. You don't know how long I have been waiting to find you." Tyson seemed shocked at those words. "Pamela told me I wasn't Thurston's child and by just looking at you I can see that I am your child."

"I would love to get to know you and I am so sorry that I couldn't find you sooner, but I didn't find out that I had even fathered a child until the Facebook post about you being missing. I looked at you and could tell that you were my child." Sam smiled brighter. It was nice to know that she had one sane parent and someone to call her family, though she felt that the Fentons were that and Tucker, he was just as much a part of her family too. Blood wasn't always part of your family tree. Some of your closest relations were friends.

"Can we leave today?" she questioned.

"Well, they wanted you to stay another day and Danny said he would be back." Sam shook her head. "You should at least hear him out." Again she shook her head.

"I hate goodbyes and that- That one would be like-" she stopped, not sure if she should reveal those feelings.

"Taking your heart and nailing it to a tree?" her father supplied to the shock of the Goth. "It felt that way when my bride left me at the alter. I felt like I had given her my heart and instead of cherishing, it she had nailed it to a tree. I still feel the loss, but I guess I dodged the bullet." When Sam just looked down at her hands he wasn't sure that he had said the right words.

"How long?"

"Hmm?" She looked to him now, her amethyst orbs glistening with tears.

"How long until it goes away?" Silence fell over them, his own amethyst orbs cloudy with sadness. When he failed to answer a minute later she knew she had her answer. "I want to go." Forcing herself back up into a sitting position she stopped. The spinning had begun again, but she wasn't going to let it get to her, so forcing herself to keep moving she scooted off the bed.

"You should at least wait until they-"

"No." It was simple. Her answer was never going to change and she needed to leave now before Danny came back. Her mind went back to the kiss in the car and she knew he wanted to tell her goodbye and talk about that kiss, but she wasn't going to because it was special to her and she wasn't going to let him ruin that memory. Her hospital gown, a nasty looking pastel green thing, flapped around her backside as the cold air hit her. "I will go, with or without you."

"Sam, you should give the boy a ch-"

"He just wants to talk about what happened in the car. He wants to clear the air before we part, but I don't want to!"

"How do you know?" Sam didn't answer him as she moved toward the counter where her clothing lay, the blood still in the shirt. Grasping her items she headed for the side of the room that had a curtain. Pulling it closed she started to dress. "Sam! How do you know? He could be coming back to tell you that he wants to be with you!" Sam stopped, but only for a second before continuing.

"Because he loves Paulina."

"His girlfriend?"

"I helped him to win her over. We played like a couple until it was time to give it up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" her father questioned. This was new to him and she knew that, but she wasn't sure if she really wanted to go over the details with him. Sighing she knew it was probably better for her soul if she told someone else.

"We played like we were dating so he could get this girl. We did everything that couples did in public." A pause as she pulled her shirt over her head. "We held hands. Whispered funny things to each other and... we kissed." Tyson could hear the sadness in his daughter's voice and as a new father he didn't know what to do. "It was all my idea and I never thought I would fall for him. Hell, I love him. That's the only way I can think of it, but its done." Tyson looked up and noticed that someone had opened the door and was just standing there.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sam's eyes grew wide and throwing the curtains to the side she found herself looking into Danny's cerulean orbs. "I never knew you felt that way."

"You weren't supposed to," Sam snapped, her anger coming out as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She shot a glare at her father who stood there looking just as dumbfounded. "Why?!" He began to stutter, his mouth moving but nothing there, no words.

"He didn't know I was there," the halfa stated. The Goth turned toward the halfa, her eyes sparkling. "Sam, I just got done leaving Paulina." Those words shocked her into silence. He stepped toward her. "When I first saw you on those tracks I just knew you were going to be special, but I didn't know why. Hell, you can ask Tucker that I have never done anything like taking someone I don't know into my house."

"You probably have never been presented with that situation before." Danny grasped her arms, his fingers moving slowly up and down her arms.

"Yeah, I have. A clone of me, but I never let her live with me. I was so shocked at the proposition you gave me about dating you, but I accepted because I thought I wanted Paulina, but when you laid that kiss on me I felt a spark. Hell, you know that was both of our first kisses." He stopped moving, his hands resting on her upper arms. "When I kissed Paulina, I felt nothing and it made me think of you. I just couldn't imagine what I had been thinking."

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"I love you Sam." At those words Sam broke down, the tears that had been in her eyes, cascading down her pale cheeks. When Danny looked helpless, Tyson stepped forward, a smile on his face.

"She's happy." Danny still had his hands on her upper arms when he turned to look to the older man. "Kiss her son." Tyson walked out of the room as Danny leaned forward, his lips falling on the Goth's trembling lips. When he pulled back most the tears had stopped, but Sam was shaking.

"I love you Danny." That brought a smile to the halfa's lips as he pulled her back to him, his lips falling on hers again. The memory of fear was replaced with love.


End file.
